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With the Little Folks 















SUNNY BOY LOOKED UP. “I KNOW YOU, MRS. 
MOTHER BIRD,” HE ANSWERED 


With the Little Folks 


By 

Isa L. Wright 


With Illustrations by Harold Cue 




Boston and New York 
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY 

The Riverside Press Cambridge 

1919 


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COPYRIGHT, I9I9, BY ISA L. WRIGHT 
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 




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Contents 

Sunny Boy i 

The Garden of Bluebells 7 

Little Princess Sunshine 19 

At Grandpa’s Farm 31 

The Three-Legged Stool 37 

Bobby’s Mud-Pie Man 51 

The Secret . ; 62 

Piggywee’s Little Curly Tail . 73 

Grandfather Pig’s Spectacles . ... 82 

The Adventures of Ducky Widdle-Waddle 
and Fishy Flip-Flop 94 

The Two Little Maple Leaves . . . 107 

Little Water-Drop’s Journey . . . .112 



Illustrations 

Sunny Boy looked up. “I know you, Mrs. 
Mother Bird,” he answered Frontispiece 

Pulled and tugged at them with all his 
puppy might, barking his sharp little 
“ Oof! Oof!” 4 

“ Oh, you beautiful ! ” cried Wanda . . 24 

The yellow goslings swam in the pond for 
him 34 

Bobby and Betty were making mud pies . 52 

But Pattie smiled and she climbed right up 
and wished her wish 64 

“ Hello, Piggywee ! ” he called out . . 76 

They could see her sitting on the door- 
step of her own little home . . . 104 


Drawn by Harold Cue 


With the Little Folks 

Sunny Boy 

Once upon a time, not very long ago, 
there was a little boy who liked funny 
things very much. He liked funny faces, 
and funny names, and funny noises, and 
funny games. He had twinkles in both of 
his eyes, and the corners of his mouth 
turned up. 

One day he said to his mother, “ Please 
tell me a funny story, — some pun to make 
me laugh.” 

So the little boy’s mother told him the 
funniest story that she knew, and he 
laughed and laughed, till his yellow curls 
danced and a little sunbeam stole right 
in through the window and danced with 
them. Then his mother said, “ Run out- 
doors, little Sunny Boy, and play.” 


2 With the Little Folks 

So Sunny Boy put on his little white 
sailor hat and ran outdoors to find some- 
thing more to laugh about. 

“ I know what will make him laugh,” 
said a tall wheat-stalk. “ He carried water 
to me yesterday, so I ’ll tickle him to- 
day.” So she bent down very quietly and 
tickled Sunny Boy right in the back of 
his little neck. And Sunny Boy laughed 
and laughed. “ Do it some more ! ” he 
cried. 

“ I can make him laugh, too,” whistled 
the wind. “ He ’s a playmate of mine. We 
often run races together.” And with that, 
the old wind whisked Sunny Boy’s hat 
right off his head and carried it across the 
yard and down the street. Sunny Boy 
raced after it, laughing all the way, and 
he caught it, too. 

“I know another way to make him 
laugh,” said the bumble-bee. “ He invites 
me into his garden every day and lets me 


Sunny Boy 


3 

eat honey from the flowers. I ’ll make him 
laugh.” 

And “buzz-z-z-z” said the bumble- 
bee, right in Sunny Boy’s ear. Then he 
flew to the other ear and said, “ Buzz-z-z.” 
And Sunny Boy turned first one way and 
then the other. “ I know you, Mr. Bee! ” 
he shouted, and he laughed, and laughed. 
“ Do it some more ! Do it some more ! ” 

It was just then that the puppy came 
around the corner of the house, and heard 
all the fun. “ Sunny Boy is my chum,” he 
announced. “ I can make him laugh.” And 
with that the puppy bounded up where 
Sunny Boy was sitting and gave him a wee 
little bite on the ear. Then he chewed his 
toes with teeth as white as snow and pulled 
and tugged at them with all his puppy 
might, barking his sharp little “Oof! 
Oof!” 

Over and over they rolled on the grass 
and made such a merry din that Mother 


4 With the Little Folks 

came to the window and of course she 
laughed, too. 

“Cheer I cheer!” sang a little bird as 
she flew by. “What is all the fun about?” 

“ Oh, we are just making Sunny Boy 
laugh,” said the wheat-stalk. 

“Well! well! ” said the little bird. “He 
is the boy who puts crumbs out in the back 
yard for me. I know how to make him 
laugh. Cheer ! cheer ! ” she called. 

Sunny Boy looked up. “ I know you, 
Mrs. Mother Bird,” he answered. “You 
have a nest in the front yard with eggs 
in it.” 

“Twee! twee! Come with me!” sang 
Mrs. Mother Bird. 

And Sunny Boy jumped right up and 
followed her. 

And what do you suppose he saw? 
Four little baby birds without any feath- 
ers on them and their yellow mouths 
stretched wide open. 



PULLED AND TUGGED AT THEM WITH ALL HIS PUPPY 
MIGHT, BARKING HIS SHARP LITTLE u OOF ! OOF ! ” 






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Sunny Boy 


5 

“ Ho ! ho ! ho ! ” laughed Sunny Boy. 
“You funny little babies! Your mouths 
are as big as your heads! ” And Mother 
laughed, too, when she looked at them. 

“ There is something in the house that 
wants to laugh with you,” she said, and 
you may believe that Sunny Boy hur- 
ried in. 

And there was his own supper on the 
table waiting for him. What do you sup- 
pose it was ? A big bowl of bread and milk 
with big raisins for eyes and nose and 
mouth. And the raisin mouth was wide 
open and laughing. And when Father 
came in, Sunny Boy’s mouth was just the 
same and so was Mother’s, and so, of 
course, Father had to join in. 

Even the washcloth, with which Mother 
washed Sunny Boy’s face after supper, 
seemed to enter into the fun of making 
Sunny Boy merry. 

“A washrag is a funny thing,” said 


6 With the Little Folks 

Sunny Boy. “ It always plays the tickles 
with you. I like a washrag.” 

“So do I,” said Mother, “and I’m 
very glad it can’t wash the ‘ Laughs ’ 
away.” 

Then she tucked him into bed. 

“ Good-night, Sunny Boy,” she whis- 
pered, “and funny dreams!” 


The Garden of Bluebells 

Once in the days of Long Ago, there lived 
a wee man in a wee house. The house was 
old and the wee man was old, but his heart 
was as young as the springtime, and as 
glad as the bluebells growing in his gar- 
den. Such wonderful bluebells they were, 
deeply blue, like the springtime skies, and 
a touch of gold at their hearts like the sun- 
beams that shone upon them. From far 
and wide people flocked to see them, and 
whenever they entered the garden, the 
bluebells seemed to ring a welcome as 
they swayed in the morning breeze, and 
folks did declare they could hear them 
sing, “Come, joy with us, for it is spring- 
time! It is springtime! ” 

And springtime it seemed to be for them 
always. Summer and winter alike they 


8 With the Little Folks 

blossomed on. Although snow covered 
the ground elsewhere, it always melted 
on the garden plot where the bluebells 
were growing. All the year round they 
looked up at the blue sky or nodded to 
the merry country folks who came to walk 
among them. “They are bewitched ! ” said 
one and all; “but it is a sweet witchery 
that keeps us all glad.” 

And now it chanced one morning that 
a certain rich man passed by and heard 
the happy voices of those who made merry 
among the flowers. He stamped the snow 
from his feet as he came up the garden 
path and it melted into wee drops of water 
that glistened in the sun. 

“ Bluebells ! and growing in the winter- 
time?” he asked; “and how is that?” 

“ I know not how it be,” smiled the wee 
man, “ but it seems to be their way to bloom 
always and to sing.” 

And from every little bluebell cup a wee 


The Garden of Bluebells 9 

voice sang to the rich man, “ Come, joy 
with us, for it is spring ! It is spring ! ” 

“ Hear them ! ” said the wee man, and 
his face was covered with the sunniest of 
smiles. 

“ I hear nothing,” said the rich man, “but 
the soil must be wonderful to grow flowers 
summer and winter. A pity it be not planted 
to some more useful thing than bluebells.” 

“Nay!” said the wee man, “but they 
keep all the country folk glad with their 
blooming.” 

“And what matters that?” The rich 
man frowned. “ Let the country folk seek 
elsewhere for their gladness. I shall speak 
to the King about it. Magic ground should 
be planted to better advantage. A won- 
derful crop of useful things could this 
ground yield, summer and winter.” 

“An it please you,” smiled the wee 
man again, “what better could a garden 
yield than happiness ? ” 


io With the Little Folks 

“ Many things,” asserted the rich man 
as he turned to go. 

And it came to pass just as the rich 
man had said, for when he returned, days 
afterward, he carried with him huge bags 
of money. “ The King sends you much 
gold in exchange for your garden plot,” 
he cried. “ You can have now all that 
heart could desire, and the garden will 
grow useful crops for the King.” 

So the gardeners went to work with 
plough and spade and they uprooted all 
the bluebells, and in their place they 
planted cabbages and beets and turnips. 
And the wee man stayed in the house 
and lighted his little stove and sat down 
beside it. And when the country folks 
came to walk again in the garden, they 
were sad. “Ah, me 1 ” they cried, “’tis 
spring no more, but winter.” And they 
shivered and went home. 

And the next morning the snow fell 


The Garden of Bluebells i i 

thicker and faster. It covered the beets 
and cabbages and the turnips with a 
white mantle and it froze them stiff. And 
the rich man came running quickly when 
he heard of it. 

“There is a bluebell somewhere in the 
garden,” he told the wee man. “And it 
has bewitched the ground. We must 
search for it.” 

And over the garden plot went the 
rich man and his workers. They dug up 
the frozen cabbages and beets and tur- 
nips and they spaded the hard ground, 
and just as they were about to give up, 
a small voice sang out, “ Come, joy with 
me, for it is springtime 1 It is spring- 
time ! ” 

“Ah! My little bluebell!” cried the 
wee man, as he bent down to it. But the 
rich man pulled it up and tore the blos- 
som from the stem and threw it out into 
the street. 


12 With the Little Folks 

“Now the garden will grow useful 
things ! ” he said. 

That night, when none were looking, 
the wee man crept out to the street and 
picked up the bluebell root and planted 
it in a little box. And it grew and blos- 
somed for him in the little wee house. 

And once again in the garden plot they 
planted the cabbages and beets and tur- 
nips. And no sooner were they planted 
than there came a swarm of locusts. No 
other garden did the locusts touch, but 
they ate all the cabbages and the beets 
and the turnips, leaf and stem and stalk, 
and left the ground bare and brown. 

“Now, by my word ! ” vowed the rich 
man when he heard of it, “ ’t is the wee 
man himself who has bewitched the 
ground. He must be taken away that the 
garden may grow its wonderful crop of 
useful things for the King.” 

So again he came to the wee man with 


The Garden of Bluebells 13 

bags of money. “The King sends you 
more gold,” he said, “and he asks that 
you journey to the castle court and there 
abide that the garden may the better 
grow and yield wonderful crops of useful 
things.” 

“An it please the King,” answered 
the wee man, “ I will go.” And under- 
neath his coat he slipped the bluebell 
plant. 

And again they planted the garden with 
cabbages and beets and turnips, but no 
sooner were they planted than a fierce 
and blazing sun scorched the leaves and 
withered them. It crackled the stems till 
they snapped, and once again the ground 
was bare and brown. 

“ Somewhere there still lives one of 
the bluebells!” shouted the rich man; 
“an it take the half of my fortune, I will 
find it. Who knows but what the wee 
man himself is keeping it alive. I, myself, 


14 With the Little Folks 

will journey to the King’s castle, and see 
the last bluebell torn root from flower.” 

Even as he spoke, he prepared to jour- 
ney forth. 

And while he journeyed, strange things 
were happening in the King’s castle. In 
a wee hut in the outer courtyard dwelt 
the wee man, and though no one knew 
it, there dwelt with him the little blue- 
bell. Every morning it sang to him, and 
the wee man laughed as he joyed with it. 
And as it sang one morning, the King’s 
little lame daughter passed by on her 
crutches, and, hearing it, the little Prin- 
cess came up the step and pushed the 
door open, saying, “Please sing the song 
again, wee man.” 

And the wee man helped her in as he said, 
“ Nay, Princess, ’t is not I who sing, but 
the bluebell.” And he put it in her hand. 

“Sing to me, little flower! ” cried the 
King’s daughter; and the bluebell sang 


The Garden of Bluebells 15 

again, “ Come, joy with me, for it is 
springtime ! It is springtime ! ” 

And the little Princess laughed and 
clapped her hands and, forgetting all 
about her crutch, she danced around the 
room as a happy little girl should do. 
And the wee man danced with her. And 
when they were tired of dancing, they 
sat down by the bluebell and the wee 
man told her wonderful stories of the 
spring. And those without, of the King’s 
household, were searching for the little 
Princess in every place where a King’s 
daughter was ever known to go, but they 
found her not. 

And while they searched, the rich man 
came to the King from out of his journey- 
ing, and many a complaint had he to 
make of the bluebells and the wee man. 

“ Bother me not with your foolish blue- 
bells ! ” cried the King. “ Mine own little 
daughter is lost and none can find her.” 


1 6 With the Little Folks 

Then the rich man came closer to the 
King. “ If the wee man,” he said, “ can 
bewitch a garden, may it not be that he 
has bewitched the Princess as well? Let 
us seek him.” 

So the King hastened to the hut where 
dwelt the wee man, and boldly he pushed 
open the door. It was his little daughter 
who danced to meet him. ‘ ‘ Come, joy with 
me!” she sang, “for it is springtime! It 
is springtime ! ” 

“Your crutch, my child!” cried the 
King. 

But the Princess laughed. “ I had for- 
gotten it, Father,” she said as she ran to 
the bluebell. “ See the wee man’s flower ! 
And it sings of the spring ! ” 

“ Ah ! ” spoke the rich man, “ said I not 
so ? The wee man’s bluebell has bewitched 
the garden and now would bewitch the 
Princess, too. Let us rend it bloom from 
stem ! ” 


The Garden of Bluebells 17 

But the Princess stood up straight and 
tall and her eyes flashed. “You shall not 
touch the wee man’s bluebell ! ” she said. 

Then the King spoke. “Tell us, wee 
man, how can a flower work such strange 
miracles?” 

“That I know not, O King,” answered 
the wee man. “It is but a flower from 
my garden, with leaf and stem and root 
like any other. Must it be destroyed be- 
cause it sings only of the springtime?” 

But the King’s little daughter shook 
her head. “ It shall live, wee man,” she 
said, “and you and I together will plant 
a garden full of bluebells. And they will 
sing to us, and the King, my father, will 
walk among them and they will sing to 
him. Where shall we plant it, wee man?” 

The wee man smiled. “An it please 
the King to grant it, I should like mine 
own garden back. Though all lands are 
fair, yet is there no place so dear as home.” 


1 8 With the Little Folks 

“And you shall have your own back 
again,” quoth the King, “ and a shame on 
me that I ever made you sell it.” 

And so it all came to pass as the 
Princess and the King had said. Bluebells 
once more filled the wee man’s garden 
and the country folk from near and far 
came back with smiles on their faces and 
joy in their hearts. Summer and winter 
they blossom and sing to all who enter 
the garden, “Come, joy with us, for it is 
springtime ! It is springtime ! ” 

And the King and the little Princess 
walk often with the wee man among the 
bluebells, for where better could a King 
and his royal little daughter walk than 
with those who sing ever of the spring- 
time? 


Little Princess Sunshine 

In the far-off days of the “ Used-to-be,” 
two little children played together, sail- 
ing their boats in the waters of the foun- 
tain place. And as they played a little 
wee man, bent and old, came up to 
them. 

“I am athirst,” he said, “and mine 
old eyes are not so good as they once 
were. I see no cup to drink from.” 

“There is none,” Winda replied, giv- 
ing her black curls a toss as she went on 
sailing her boat. 

But Wanda looked up and smiled. “ I ’ll 
get you one,” said she. And as she ran, 
her hair was a golden glow 'about her 
face and her skin gleamed white in the 
sunlight. And when she returned, the lit- 
tle wee man drank his fill of the fountain 
water. Then from his pocket he brought 


20 With the Little Folks 

forth something brown and sear and 
withered, and handed it to Wanda. 

“ My blessings upon you who had so 
much to give to me!” smiled the little 
wee man. 

Then he reached into another pocket 
and turned to Winda. “ And to you who 
had nothing to give to me, my blessings 
also ! ” And he gave her, too, a little 
brown something, withered and sear. 

“Horrid old brown thing!” thought 
Winda to herself. “ What shall I do with 
it?” she asked of him. 

“ Plant it.” The little wee man smiled 
pleasantly. 

“And then what?” Winda inquired. 

“Whatever you shall give to it, it will 
return to you a thousand fold.” And the 
little wee man was gone. 

“ Now, what could a brown, shriveled- 
up thing like this ever give to me?” said 
Winda with a toss of her head. 


Little Princess Sunshine 2 1 

“ I don’t know,” said Wanda, as she 
smoothed the little dried thing in her 
hand. And then they planted them. 

Winda dug a little hole in a corner of 
the garden plot, and dropped into it her 
gift from the little wee man. “There I” 
she said crossly, as she threw the dirt 
over it, “I’m glad that’s done!” And 
she put up a crooked stick to mark the 
place. “ I ’m sure it will not grow, and if 
it does, I know it will have ugly flowers 
on it.” 

Wanda dug a hole for hers in another 
corner of the garden plot, and when she 
had planted the little brown thing, she 
smoothed the dirt about it and patted it 
down and laughed as she laid a circle 
of little white pebbles around, to mark 
the place. Then she ran for a cup of 
water. “Now, little brown thing,” she 
smiled, “I’ve given you a drink and 
tucked you up in bed, and I hope you 


22 With the Little Folks 

will have very happy dreams.” And when 
she stood up she was singing to herself. 

“ How can an ugly brown thing like 
that have happy dreams ? ” Winda asked. 

“ I don’t know,” Wanda answered, “but 
I hope it will.” Then she looked down at 
the garden plot. “ I wonder what lovely 
thing | you will grow to be, little hard 
ball,” she laughed. 

The days passed. Every morning 
Wanda watered the corner of the garden 
plot, circled with little white pebbles, and 
every morning, when Winda did n’t for- 
get, she watered the little corner marked 
by the crooked stick. And then one morn- 
ing in shining spring a little leaf pushed 
its green head above the ground in Wan- 
da’s garden corner. But though Winda 
looked and looked, only the bare brown 
earth looked back at her. “ I knew it 
would n’t grow,” she said as she tossed 
her head.. 


Little Princess Sunshine 23 

“I’m sorry,” said Wanda, “but you 
can look at mine. It must have had 
happy dreams, Winda, and it is coming 
up to tell us about them.” 

And every day after that it told them 
more and more about its beautiful dream. 
Slowly a tall stem lifted itself in air, and 
many green leaves peeped through the 
ground, arranging themselves on the stem 
like court ladies-in-waiting and lords-in- 
attendance upon a princess who was to 
come. Every morning Wanda seemed to 
grow happier and happier, and every 
morning the stem grew taller and more 
stately, till at its peak there came a slen- 
der bud. It swelled and grew and burst one 
merry morning into a white, white lily. 

“The princess has come!” Wanda 
called. 

But Winda had grown tired of playing 
in the garden and was so far away that she 
could not even hear, so far away that she 


24 With the Little Folks 

never came back to see the regal lily that 
lifted its stately head above the green 
leaves — leaves that bowed and swayed 
in the wind like ladies-in-waiting and 
lords-in-attendance at high court. “ Oh, 
you beautiful!” cried Wanda. “Your 
heart is as golden as the sunshine and 
your face is as white as the snows ! ” And 
she laid her cheek against it. 

Then there arose from the unfolded lily 
a fragrance so sweet that passers-by from 
the street beyond breathed deeply of its 
perfume and turned to look. 

“Oh, you beautiful!” cried Wanda 
again. 

“ All that you have given unto it, it will 
return to you again a thousand fold,” said 
a quiet voice. 

Wanda turned but there was nobody in 
sight. 

Now in that far country where Wanda 



u OH, YOU beautiful!” CRIED WANDA 






















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Little Princess Sunshine 25 

lived, the King’s little son was very ill. 
Long days he lay upon his bed and nei- 
ther spoke nor answered when he was 
spoken to. The court physicians and the 
wisest men of the land debated long upon 
his illness and what might be done to 
cure him. But always he lay quiet and 
listless with closed eyes and pallid face. 

“ He must be roused ! ” said the physi- 
cians. “ If something can be found that 
will interest him, he will live.” 

So they searched through the country 
far and wide. They brought him rare and 
costly toys, they played for him beautiful 
music. They gathered from near and far 
all things new and wonderful, birds and 
pictures and the sweetest of sweet sing- 
ers. But the little Prince heeded none of 
them and the Mother Queen bowed her 
head at his bedside and waited day after 
day. 

“ Go forth and seek still farther ! ” cried 


26 With the Little Folks 

the King. “ Seek newer places for the 
strange, the wonderful, the unusual.” 

And farther and farther still went the 
seekers after that new thing that might 
rouse the little Prince. And so it happened 
one morning as Wanda stood by her lily, 
the court crier found her. The peal of his 
trumpet rang through the air as he spoke. 

“ In the name of the King, I summon 
you to appear before him. The Royal 
Prince is ill, and if it may be that your 
wonderful lily can rouse him, he will live.” 

And so it was that Wanda rode away 
with the court herald, the lily beside her, 
on and on and on to the palace where the 
little Prince lay with closed eyes and the 
Mother Queen with bowed head waited. 

As Wanda came in through the door, 
the heart of the white lily seemed to grow 
still more golden and a fragrance, sweet 
beyond words, floated in and filled the 
room. The little Prince breathed more 


Little Princess Sunshine 27 

deeply, his eyelids quivered, his fingers 
moved, and then he opened his eyes. 

“What is it?” he asked in a whisper. 

And when he saw the lily, he stretched 
out his hands and smiled. And Wanda 
smiled back and put the flower in his 
hands. Then the little Prince laid his cheek 
against it and smiled again. 

It was the King who spoke first. “The 
half of my kingdom is yours,” he said to 
Wanda. “ Ask what you wish and it shall 
be granted.” 

But Wanda shook her head. “ I have no 
wish,” she said, “ now that the little Prince 
is better.” 

And the Mother Queen put her arm 
around Wanda and smiled. 

For many a day there was rejoicing in 
the kingdom. Far and wide the herald 
pealed his trumpet and far and wide went 
the glad tidings. “The Prince will live! 
The Prince will live ! ” And those who had 


28 With the Little Folks 

bowed their heads lifted them high and 
laughed. So was the whole kingdom glad 
once more. But no gladder one was there 
among them than Wanda as she played 
with the little Prince as the days passed. 
She watched the roses come back into his 
cheeks and the blue shine brighter in his 
eyes. And always the lily was with them, 
still golden and white. 

“It doesn’t seem to fade at all," said 
Wanda. 

The little Prince was wise. “ It will never 
fade,” he said. “It is just like you. Its heart 
is as golden as the noonday sun and its 
face as white as the morning beams. It will 
sleep, but it will never fade.” 

And the words of the little Prince came 
true. Day after day the lily sent its fra- 
grance through the house and garden and 
its white petals stayed unchanged. And 
then one morning, Wanda and the lit- 
tle Prince woke to find it gone from its 


Little Princess Sunshine 29 

earthen box. All that was left was the dry 
brown bulb that the little wee man had 
first given Wanda. And as she bent to pick 
it up, a voice said close to her ear, “All that 
you gave to it, it has returned to you a thou- 
sand fold.” 

Wanda turned and there stood the little 
wee man. But before she could answer 
him, he bowed low before her. “ I salute 
you, Little Sunshine Princess ! ” he said, 
and then he was gone. 

And the little Prince laughed and 
clapped his hands, as he came toward her. 
Then he bent his knee and took Wanda’s 
hand in his and smiled as he said, “ I, too, 
salute you, Little Sunshine Princess ! ” 

And through the garden gate came the 
King and the Mother Queen and all the 
ladies-in-waiting and the lords-in-attend- 
ance. All in a minute, it seemed, Wanda 
was seated in a golden chair with the little 
Prince beside her and the King was say- 


30 With the Little Folks 

ing, “ Long life to our Little Princess Sun- 
shine! ” 

And those who waited before the gold- 
en chair, bowed low and cried, “ Long life 
to our Little Princess Sunshine! ” 

The little Prince held his head high and 
his laugh rang out clear and strong. “ Long 
life to the Little Princess Sunshine!” he 
shouted, “and she is mine!” 

Then he took Wanda by the hand and 
ran with her to the far end of the garden. 

And Little Princess Sunshine she has 
been ever since. And though the brown 
bulb flowers every year into beautiful lilies, 
and though no country far or wide can 
boast so rare a blossom, yet the King and 
the Mother Queen and the little Prince 
do say that a thousand times more beau- 
tiful is their Little Sunshine Princess, 
whose heart is as golden as the sun of 
noonday and whose face is as the white 
beams of the morning. 


At Grandpa’s Farm 

There was a great commotion in the 
barnyard at Grandpa’s farm. The red 
rooster crowed : “ Have you heard the 
news? Have you heard the news ? ” And 
the Plymouth Rock answered him. 

“Ma-a-a,” bleated the spotted calf to 
its mother. 

“Yes, I know,” mooed the red cow, 
“and I am just as glad as you are about 
it.” 

“ Quack ! quack ! quack ! ” squawked 
the old duck to her ducklings. “ This is 
the day of days for us.” 

“ Th-th-s-s-s,” hissed the geese. “We 
all know about it, too.” 

“Cheer! cheer! cheer!” sang a little 
finch. It was he who brought the news to 
the barnyard. He was singing in the tree 
by the window when he heard Grand- 


32 With the Little Folks 

mother tell it to Grandfather. And she 
read it in the letter the postman brought. 
Then little bird told it to the spotted calf. 
The spotted calf bleated it to the red cow. 
The red cow mooed it to the white geese 
and the waddling ducks. And the big 
brown drake, who was never known to 
keep a secret a minute, squawked it to the 
whole barnyard. 

“Thomas is coming to-day to visit us ! ” 

“Gobble, gobble, gobble!” sputtered 
the old turkey. “ I like Thomas. His face 
is as freckled as my eggs.” 

“And he has a smile for every freckle,” 
added the speckled hen. “ I hope all my 
eggs hatch out into freckled children.” 

“Is everybody ready for Thomas?” 
asked the big sun, with his shiniest smile. 

“ Indeed and indeed we are ! ” mooed 
the red cow. “Isn’t my richest cream 
waiting for him ? And butter, too, as yel- 
low as gold?” 


At Grandpa’s Farm 33 

“Good!” shined the old sun. “Your 
cream will go nicely with the red-cheeked 
peaches I am ripening for him.” 

“And don’t forget us!” called the 
wheat-stalks from the field. “We gave 
the flour to make the bread your golden 
butter will be spread on.” 

“And I can just hear him laugh when 
he finds my tail feathers in the hedge,” 
gobbled the turkey. “ I put them there 
for him, to make an Indian feather piece.” 

“S-s-s,” hissed the geese; “a coverlet 
of down from our breasts we gave him.” 

“ I helped to make his feather pillow,” 
cackled the speckled hen; “and wait till 
he tastes my eggs, freshly laid. There is 
a nest of them.” 

“ I raised a family of ducklings for him 
to play with,” quacked the old mother 
duck. “What more could one do for 
Thomas?” 

“Wee-ee-ee,” squealed the little pink 


34 With the Little Folks 

pig. "I am very little now, but when I 
am big I shall give him bristles from my 
back to make a hairbrush. I ’m going out 
now to watch for Thomas.” And away 
he went so fast that he bumped his nose 
against the gardener. 

“ Don’t you root around in my garden,” 
shouted the gardener. “ I am saving 
the nicest vegetables in the garden for 
Thomas. He is coming to visit us to- 
day.” 

“ Here I am this minute ! ” said a merry 
voice, and — would you believe it? — 
there stood Thomas, and the old sun was 
shining right down on his freckles. 

Little pig followed him to the barnyard 
squealing at the top of his shrill little voice, 
and shaking his little fat sides with joy. 

I can’t begin to tell you all the fun they 
had. If you had been anywhere near, you 
would have heard a happy little boy laugh- 
ing and shouting, hens a-cackling, a wee 



THE YELLOW GOSLINGS SWAM IN THE POND FOR HIM 



























































I. 
























































c 


At Grandpa’s Farm 35 

calf bleating, turkeys gobbling, cows moo- 
ing, and a little piggy’s squeal high above 
them all. Oh, it was a merry, merry day ! 

Grandmother made Thomas the Indian 
feather piece and he wore it all day long. 
You should have seen the old turkey strut 
around. She was so proud of Thomas and 
his feathers. The yellow goslings swam 
in the pond for him. “Do your best!” 
said their mother. And you may be sure 
they did, for Thomas clapped his hands 
and wished he could jump right in and 
swim with them. 

The mother cat carried all her babies 
by the napes of their necks and put them 
down in front of Thomas. Then she 
washed them all clean with her rough 
tongue. The mother dog trailed all her 
romping puppies over the farm after him 
and Thomas shouted and played with 
them and tried to help them catch their 
tails. 


36 With the Little Folks 

I can’t begin to tell you all the good 
things he had to eat. Of course there was 
the fresh bread, right out of the oven, and 
the butter to spread on it, yellow as gold. 
And there were eggs, freshly laid, and 
cookies from a stone jar, and the very 
nicest vegetables from the gardens and 
peaches and cream. And if there was a 
happier boy in all the world than Thomas, 
then I have never heard of him. 

And when the day was over, and he 
was tucked in his own little bed under 
the down coverlet, with his head on the 
feather pillow, he said to his mother, 
“Oh, how I do love to visit a farm 1” 

And strange to say, just at that very 
minute, all the animals in the farmyard 
were going to bed, and they were saying : 
“Oh, how we do love to have Thomas 
visit us!” 


The Three-Legged Stool 

Once there was a little old man who 
lived in a little old house with his gentle 
wife. And most important of all, there 
lived with them a little three-legged 
stool. Now there are stools and stools, 
the world over, little and big; but this 
stool was not like any other stool in the 
world, as you will see. It might have 
been made by the Happy Elves, or 
blessed by the Fairy of Kind Deeds, or 
grown in the Forest of Loving Thoughts. 
I cannot tell you as to that. All I am 
sure of is this : it was the most wonder- 
ful stool I have ever heard of and it 
dwelt for many a year with the little old 
man and his gentle wife in the little old 
house on the hill. 

Every morning the little old man car- 
ried it to the barn, sat down on it and 


38 With the Little Folks 

milked the brindled cow. Then he went 
back to the little old house with the milk- 
ing-pail in one hand and the little three- 
legged stool in the other. One morning 
as he arose to go to the barn 'as usual, 
the little stool stirred on its three legs 
and said, “Why should I let you carry 
me to the barn every day when I am 
able to carry myself? ” 

“What’s that?” said the little old 
man. But before he could say another 
word, the little stool danced away on its 
three legs and sat itself down by the 
brindled cow. 

“ Now that is very kind of you,” said 
the little old man when he reached the 
barn. 

“Not at all! Not at all!” replied the 
little stool. “ I have n’t had so much fun 
for a long time.” So the little old man sat 
down and milked the brindled cow. 

The next morning the stool said to the 


The Three-Legged Stool 39 

milking-pail, as they stood side by side 
in the kitchen, “ Why should you let the 
little old man carry you to the barn? 
Why not carry yourself? ” 

“A fine idea! ” said the milking-pail. 

“ What ’s that? ” inquired the little old 
man. But before he could say another 
word, off whisked the milking-pail with 
the little stool, and sat itself down under 
the brindled cow. 

“ Now that is very kind of you,” said 
the little old man as he sat down to milk. 

“ Not at all ! Not at all ! ” laughed the 
milking-pail. “I haven’t had so much 
fun for a long time.” 

So the little old man milked the brindled 
cow and carried the milk to the house. 

And the next morning the little stool 
got to thinking again, as she and the 
milking-pail waited by the brindled cow 
for the little old man to come. 

“ Oh, cow,” said the little three-legged 


40 With the Little Folks 

stool, “why should you make the little 
old man milk you ? He works hard all 
day long. Why not let down your milk 
yourself ? ” 

“A fine idea! ” smiled the cow as she 
chewed her cud. “A fine idea!” And 
when the little old man reached the barn, 
the pail was full of foamy milk. 

“ Now that was very kind of you, brin- 
dled cow,” said the little old man. 

“Not at all ! Not at all ! ” answered 
the cow, switching her tail. “ I have n’t 
had so much fun in a long time.” 

And the little old man reached for the 
milking-pail to carry it into the house. 

“ Wait a minute ! ” called the little stool. 
“Why should the milking-pail and I let 
you carry the milk when between us we 
can take it to the house and not spill a 
drop?” 

“What’s that?” asked the little old 
man. But before he could take hold of the 


The Three-Legged Stool 41 

milking-pail, it had jumped up on the 
stool. Tap ! tap! went the three little legs, 
and in a minute they were safe in the 
house and not a drop spilled. 

The little old man hurried in and told 
his gentle wife all about it. “We must do 
something for them in return for their 
kindness,” said she. “ Now do you give 
the brindled cow of our apples, and I will 
shine up the milking-pail and cover the 
little stool with red, red carpet.” 

“We have but few apples left for win- 
ter,” said the little old man. 

“That matters not,” smiled his gentle 
wife. “We can do without ourselves.” 

So the brindled cow ate of the apples 
and the milking-pail, shining from top to 
toe, smiled at the little three-legged stool 
all covered with red, red carpet. Then the 
stool leaned over to the pail and said, 
“Why should the little old man toil day 
after day and get so little for his labor?” 


42 With the Little Folks 

“Why, indeed?” echoed the milking- 
pail. 

“And why should we sit here in the 
corner all day while the little old man toils 
so hard ? Let us bestir ourselves 1 ” 

“A fine idea!” the milking-pail an- 
swered. 

“What’s that?” asked the little old 
man. 

“ We go to seek your fortune ! ” cried 
the stool. But before the little old man 
could speak a word, away they both danced 
out the door and down the road and on to 
the village. 

By the roadside sat a strong man. 

‘ ‘ Why do you sit here ? ” asked the stool. 

“Why, indeed?” echoed the milking- 
pail. 

“ The little old man toils hard day after 
day,” the stool continued, “and gets but 
little for his labor.” 

“ If that be so,” answered the strong 


The Three-Legged Stool 43 

man, rising, “ take me to him ! I will gladly 
work hard, too, in exchange for food and 
comfort.” 

“You shall drink your fill of my milk,” 
promised the pail. 

“And rest on me when you are weary,” 
agreed the stool. 

So they all journeyed back to the little 
old house. 

“We bring you part of your fortune ! ” 
they told the little old man. “A strong 
pair of arms to labor for you in exchange 
for food and comfort.” 

“ Now that is very kind of you,” said 
the little old man. 

“Not at all! not at all!” rejoined'the 
stranger. “ I have n’t had so much fun in 
a long time.” 

And the little three-legged stool and the 
milking-pail laughed till they creaked, 
they were so happy. 

“ Your face grows shinier every day,” 


44 With the Little Folks 

whispered the stool to the milking-pail, 
a few days later. 

“ And your carpet face grows brighter 
and brighter,” returned the pail. Then they 
laughed again. 

“ Why should we sit here in idleness, ” 
said the stool after a minute, “ when the 
little old man and the strong man toil hard 
day after day ? They are getting more for 
their labor, it is true, but yet not half 
enough. Let us bestir ourselves again.” 

“A fine idea ! ” said the milking-pail. 

“What’s that?” questioned the little 
old man. 

“We go again to seek your fortune,” 
called the little stool, as it ran out the front 
door and down the road with the milking- 
pail after it. 

On to the village they went, and once 
more they saw a man sitting by the road- 
side. A tattered coat covered his thin body 
and his face was white and pinched. 


The Three-Legged Stool 45 

The shiny milking-pail and the little 
stool stopped to talk with him. 

“Why do you sit here by the road- 
side?” asked the milking-pail. 

“ I am weary and hungry,” returned 
the stranger, “and none will give me 
food.” 

“Why don’t you go to the little old 
man’s house?” suggested the little stool. 
“ He has very little to give, but what he 
has he will gladly share with you and his 
gentle wife will care for you until you are 
well again.” 

“ It may be,” said the stranger, “ that 
the little old man labors hard and has need 
of all he earns.” 

“ Nevertheless, he will be glad to help 
you,” the little stool assured him. 

“You can drink your fill of my milk,” 
said the pail. 

“ And rest on me when you are weary,” 
added the stool. 


46 With the Little Folks 

So back again they journeyed to the 
little old man’s house. 

“We bring you no fortune this time,” 
they called, “but only one who is weary 
and hungry and needs your help.” 

“And indeed I am glad to see you,” 
smiled the little old man as he came to 
meet the stranger. And his gentle wife 
brought forward the easiest chair. 

“Now this is very kind of you,” began 
the stranger. 

“ Not at all ! Not at all ! ” answered the 
little old man and his gentle wife together. 
“ We have n’t had so much fun for a long 
time.” 

And with that they brought the best 
from the cupboard and set it upon the 
table. And the stranger ate till he was sat- 
isfied, and when night came, he was given 
the softest bed for sleep and rest. 

The morning came and the gentle wife 
prepared breakfast and put it on a tray 


The Three-Legged Stool 47 

and put the tray on the little stool and tap ! 
tap ! tap ! went the little stool up the stairs 
and into the stranger’s room. And the little 
old man and his gentle wife followed. 

The little stool sat itself down by the 
bedside. And the little old man and his 
wife stood by the door. And lo! There 
upon the bed, they saw, not a weary stran- 
ger, but a King with a jeweled crown upon 
his forehead. 

“ I was a hungered and you took me in, 
sheltered and fed me with the best you 
had,” he said, “and a King does not 
forget.” 

Then the little old man and his gentle 
wife bowed low before the King. 

“ Nay,” he said, “bow not to me, but sit 
you here by my side, and tell me what I 
can do for you who did so much for 
me.” 

But the little old man, sitting by the 
King’s side, shook his head. And the gen- 


48 With the Little Folks 

tie wife, sitting on the other side of the 
King, shook her head. “We have done 
nothing,” they said together. “ It was the 
little stool that did it all.” 

And the King smiled. “Since you will 
not wish for yourself,” he told them, “ I 
shall wish for you.” Then he lifted his 
hands above them. 

“ I bless you for always,” he said, “ with 
peace and happiness. And whatsoever 
your hands may touch shall prosper. And 
now, little stool ” — the King turned around 
— “ what can I do for you ? ” 

“ For me ? ” The little stool was so sur- 
prised he nearly tumbled over. 

“For you,” said the King, and he smiled 
again. 

“ Well, as to that,” began the little stool, 
“if the strong man and the milking-pail 
and I can live always with the little old 
man and his gentle wife, we have nothing 
to wish for.” 


The Three Legged Stool 49 

“Nothing at all?” asked the King. 
“Think! ” 

“Well,” admitted the little stool with a 
laugh, “there is one thing we have often 
talked about, the strong man and the 
milking-pail and I. We should very much 
enjoy a little child about the house.” 

“For me to work for,” said the strong 
man. 

“To drink of my white milk,” added the 
shiny pail. 

“And to sit upon me,” continued the 
little stool, creaking his legs with joy at the 
thought. 

“ Oh ! oh ! oh ! ” cried the little old man 
and his gentle wife. For there, right before 
them was a little child with yellow curls 
and blue eyes and cheeks like roses in 
June time. And she gave the little old man 
a kiss on his little left cheek, and his gen- 
tle wife a kiss on the right cheek. 

Then she sat down on the little three- 


50 With the Little Folks 

legged stool with the red, red carpet on it. 
“May I have it for mine?” she asked. 

And the little old man and his gentle 
wife nodded their heads and their eyes 
shone. 

“And to think,” said the little old man, 
“ it was the little stool that brought it all 
to us.” 

“ Not at all ! Not at all ! ” cried the little 
stool, creaking with joy. “ I have n’t had 
so much fun for a long time.” 


Bobby’s Mud-Pie Man 

Bobby and Betty were making mud pies 
in the back yard. There was nice red clay 
there and it made the nicest kind of pies 
that you could roll out with a rolling-pin. 
Betty was six years old, but Bobby was 
only four. Nevertheless, he made just as 
round, trim pies as one could wish to see. 
Of course they made them just as Mother 
did, and they said, as they rolled them out, 
just what Mother said when they watched 
her making pies, — 

“ Round as the Moon a pie should be, 
With eyes and nose and mouth, you 
see, 

And good things, too, to make it sweet, 
And fit for any king to eat.” 

Bobby yawned as he rolled out a very, 
very big pie. 


52 With the Little Folks 

It was past the children’s nap-time. 
“ Mine is a King Pie,” he said, and he 
blinked his eyes sleepily. 

Their mother came to the door. “ It ’s 
nap-time, children,” she called. “ Come in 
and climb up on the bed. I am going to 
the store.” 

“Yes, Mother,” they called back; and 
they both jumped up and put the mud 
pies out on a box in the sun to bake. Then 
Betty turned to go. 

“ I ’ll just watch them for a minute,” 
said Bobby, “ to be sure they do not burn. ’ ’ 
Then he yawned again and leaned against 
the chestnut tree. 

“ Don’t you run away, Little Pies, till 
I come back,” called Betty. 

Bobby laughed. “Mud pies run away! 
How could mud pies run?” 

He blinked his eyes as he heard Betty’s 
shoes drop on the floor. 

Then he laughed again. What a funny 





BOBBY AND BETTY WERE MAKING MUD PIES 






Bobby’s Mud-Pie Man 


53 

thing to say ! Mud pies could n’t run away. 
Of course they could n’t. 

“ Why not? ” said a strange voice from 
somewhere. 

Bobby looked all around. There was 
nobody in sight. 

“Why not, I say?” asked the same 
voice again. 

“ Oh, I don’t know,” said Bobby. “ I 
guess because they have n’t any legs or 
feet.” 

“ No legs or feet? ” The strange Some- 
body was laughing. “Just look!” 

And then right before Bobby’s very eyes, 
that biggest mud pie on the box thrust out 
his two legs with two feet on them. 

Bobby opened his eyes wide. “ I did n’t 
know mud pies had feet,” he said. 

“ Of course you did n’t,” said the Mud- 
Pie Man. “ There are lots of things a little 
boy does n’t know. Besides I did not have 
them until the sun grew them for me.” 


54 With the Little Folks 

“The sun?” Bobby repeated. 

“ Of course the sun. Does n’t the sun 
grow the flowers and put green in the 
leaves?” 

“Yes,” said Bobby. 

The Mud-Pie Man stretched his legs. 
“They are strong enough to run with 
right now,” he announced. And quick as 
a wink, he jumped down from the box, 
seized Bobby by the hand, and whisked 
him across the lawn through the front yard 
and down the street. Then he stopped a 
minute and squinted up at the sky. And 
all of a sudden it was not day any more. 
The moon was shining. 

“Do you see any clouds around the 
moon?” asked the Mud-Pie Man. “I 
can’t see very well. You gave me only one 
eye. But never mind. I ’ll do the best I can 
with that. I am very grateful to you for 
making me. Are there any clouds around 
the moon?” 


Bobby’s Mud-Pie Man 55 

“No,” said Bobby. “And I ’m sorry I 
gave you only one eye.” 

“ It does n’t matter,” replied the Mud- 
Pie Man. “ I can get along very well 
with this one. It will grow bigger. And, 
besides, I can have the head artist paint 
me a blue one when we get there. I am 
very fond of blue eyes.” 

“Oh!” said Bobby. 

“Also, we are rather late,” went on the 
Mud-Pie Man. “ So come on. They are 
waiting for us. I can see that even with 
one eye.” 

“ Who is waiting for us ? ” said Bobby. 

“ Why, the party, of course. A birth- 
day party does n’t begin till every one 
is there, does it?” The Mud-Pie Man 
looked at Bobby and smiled out of his 
one eye. 

“ I did n’t know we were going to a 
party,” Bobby replied. 

“ Of course you did n’t,” laughed the 


56 With the Little Folks 

Mud-Pie Man. “ I did n’t know it myself 
till a few minutes ago.” Then he lifted 
Bobby up onto a moonbeam and away 
they sailed. 

“ I think it is lots of fun to go to a 
birthday party,” said Bobby. 

“ So do I,” answered the Mud-Pie Man, 
“ and I am much obliged to you for giv- 
ing me a birthday.”. And there they were 
at the big, big door of the moon. 

The Moon Man himself opened it. He 
had little black, beady eyes and white 
whiskers, as long as Santa Claus’s. 

“ Welcome to Moonland ! ” he shouted, 
as he shook hands with Bobby. 

Then he bowed low to the Mud-Pie 
Man. 

“ Did you tell Bobby why you brought 
him here?” he asked. 

“ No,” said the Mud-Pie Man; “ I kept 
it for a surprise. Everybody enjoys a 
surprise.” 


Bobby’s Mud-Pie Man 57 

From away back somewhere, a bell be- 
gan to ring. 

“ Enter 1 ” said the Moon Man. That 
was the way they talked in the story 
Mother read to Bobby the night before. 
He remembered it now. 

The big moon door swung wider open 
and there in a long banquet hall was a 
well-set table with chairs of all sizes 
around it. Behind each chair stood a 
Mud-Pie Man. There were dozens of 
them. But not one of all the dozens was 
as big and fat and fine-looking as the 
one Bobby had made. 

The Moon Man gave his arm a flour- 
ish and stepped behind a big chair. For 
you must know that the Moon Man is 
not little. “ This is Bobby,” he said to all 
the tableful of Mud-Pie Men. And every 
one of them, little and big and black and 
brown and gray, saluted the little boy in 
very grand fashion. The only thing Bobby 


58 With the Little Folks 

could think to say was “ Thank you ! ” but 
he said it very bravely, though he felt 
rather strange with so many Mud-Pie 
Men all looking at him. Every one of 
them had two eyes, too. “ I wish I had 
given my Mud-Pie Man two eyes,” he 
thought again. 

Then the Moon Man lifted Bobby’s 
Mud-Pie Man up into a great gold chair 
and everybody stood very still. Even 
the clock stopped ticking. 

“Have you decided what you will 
name him?” asked the Moon Man of 
Bobby. 

Bobby thought a minute. The boy 
next door to him had a dog just the 
color of the Mud-Pie Man. “ I ’d like to 
call him ‘ Dubs.’ ” Bobby spoke very 
loud. All the tableful of Mud-Pie Men 
bowed their heads and said very softly 
and reverently, “ Dubs, Dubs.” 

“ You are his Godfather,” said the 


Bobby’s Mud-Pie Man 59 

Moon Man, handing Bobby a small gold 
crown. Then he whispered something. 

Bobby lifted the gold crown onto the 
Mud-Pie Man’s head and said: “I crown 
you, Dubs, King of all the world of 
Mud-Pie Men.” 

“Hail! Hail!” said the tableful of 
Mud-Pie Men. “ Hail to Dubs, King of 
all the world of Mud-Pie Men ! ” 

Then they all sat down and ate bread 
and jam. 

“ I am very glad you made my mouth 
so big,” said King Dubs. “ I am very 
fond of bread and jam.” 

“ So am I,” replied Bobby. “ My mother 
gives it to me for lunch nearly every day.” 

“ I believe I hear some one calling 
you, Bobby,” said the Moon Man, help- 
ing himself to some more jam. 

“ I think it must be my mother,” said 
the little boy. “She wants me to take 
my nap.” 


60 With the Little Folks 

“Of course,” said King Dubs; “and 
now that you mention it, I feel like tak- 
ing a nap myself.” And he blinked his 
one eye at Bobby and smiled. 

“ I wish I had given you two eyes,” 
Bobby said, looking very hard at King 
Dubs. And then — would you believe it 
— it was Mother’s eyes that he was look- 
ing at, and he was not in the moon at all, 
but in his own yard. 

“Why, Bobby,” Mother was saying, 
“ you have been sound asleep against the 
chestnut tree. What a funny place for a 
nap ! ” 

Bobby rubbed his eyes and blinked 
them hard. Then he looked over at the 
box. There was the biggest Mud-Pie 
Man, and he looked as though he were 
asleep. Yes, he had only one eye. Bobby 
turned back to Mother. 

“When King Dubs wakes up, I shall 
paint him another eye.” 


Bobby’s Mud-Pie Man 6i 


“Yes,” said Mother. “What color do 
you think you will make it ? ” 

“ Why, blue, of course,” smiled Bobby. 
“ King Dubs is very fond of blue eyes.” 


The Secret 


Pattie was very fond of fairy stories. 
If she had n’t been, the lovely thing that 
came to her could never have come in 
the delightfully happy way it did. And 
this is the way it all began : 

Mother was reading a story about the 
fairy wishing gate, and the story said, 
“A wishing gate, as every one knows, is 
made of two straight sticks. Just cross 
your fingers and you will see what a 
wishing gate looks like.” 

So, of course, Pattie crossed her fin- 
gers. “Here’s my wishing gate,” she 
laughed. 

Mother read on. “And to find the 
wishing gate, you must walk and walk 
till you come to it. Then if you climb 
upon it, and wish your wish, in the fairies’ 
own good time it will come true. But if 


The Secret 


63 

you never find the wishing gate, you will 
know that wishing wishes on a fairy 
wishing gate is not for you.” 

Then the story went on to tell of a 
little -girl who did find it, wished her 
wish, and in the fairies’ own good time 
found it coming true. 

“ I am so glad she got her wish,” Pat- 
tie said. “Only I should have wished for 
something much nicer than a doll.” 

“What?” asked Mother. 

Pattie thought a minute. “There are 
so many things, Mother,” she began. “ If 
I could have only one wish, it would 
have to be something for Daddy and you 
and me all together. I should have to think 
a long time before I decided.” 

And right that very minute, Mother 
leaned over and whispered something — 
something that made Pattie dance up and 
down. “That is exactly what I should 
wish for, Mother ! ” she cried. 


64 With the Little Folks 

And, of course, the next morning, she 
walked and walked. Mother knew why 
she was walking and walking, and Bobs, 
the dog, was with her. Pattie crossed her 
fingers. “That is the way it will look,” she 
said to herself. And she walked and walked 
and walked some more. Then Bobs gave a 
funny little bark. I do not know what he 
was barking at, but Pattie said she knew, 
for just when she looked up, she saw 
something that made her catch her 
breath and run fast. Folks called it a 
stile, but Pattie smiled and she climbed 
right up and wished her wish. It was a 
delightful wish, the happiest one you 
could imagine. If you know something 
that would make your mother and father 
and you the happiest people imaginable, 
then maybe you have guessed Pattie’ s 
wish. I can’t tell you now what it was, 
but I can tell you that Pattie was too 
happy for words all the way home, and 


•MR*’ 








BUT PATTIE SMILED AND SHE CLIMBED RIGHT 
UP AND WISHED HER WISH 



The Secret 


6 5 

Bobs wagged his tail and barked as though 
he understood, too. Pattie ran into the 
house and told Mother all about it, and 
they decided, then and there, that it was 
a secret and must be told to no one. 

“We will tell Daddy everything ex- 
cept the wish,” smiled Pattie. And Mother 
agreed. 

Daddy looked very much surprised 
when he heard about it. “H-m-m,” he 
said, smoothing Pattie’s hair, “so it is 
something nice for Mother and Father 
and little Pattie. Well, I hope it will 
hurry up and come true.” 

“Of course we all do,” laughed Pattie, 
“ but it is lots of fun thinking about it, too.” 

Now the little, cuddly, yellow chick- 
ens down by the barn began to notice 
how very, very happy Pattie was. “ She 
dances all the time,” they told their 
mother, “and she keeps singing to her- 
self.” 


66 With the Little Folks 

Bobs, the dog, smiled. “She has a se- 
cret,” he told them all. “ It is a wish that is 
coming true.” 

“ How does she know that it is coming 
true ? ” asked the chicks. 

“ She wished it on the wishing gate. I 
was there when she did it,” said Bobs, 
very proudly. 

“ Oh, then you know what she wished.” 
All the little chickens pattered close to him. 
“ Tell us ! ” 

“ Indeed, I do not know the wish.” 
Bobs held his head up high. “Pattie is a 
girl who can keep a secret. She hasn’t 
even told her Daddy.” 

“ Why, what can it be ? ” All the baby 
chicks twisted their little heads curiously. 
“ Maybe she wished for a new doll buggy. 
We heard her say the old one was broken.” 

“ Indeed she did not. She wished for 
something for her mother and father and 
herself all together,” Bobs told them. 


The Secret 


67 

“ What can it be ? ” the baby chicks 
said again. “ Can you imagine, Mother?” 

Mrs. Hen opened her eyes wide. “ I am 
not going to try,” she answered. “ It is 
Pattie’s secret.” And she shut her bill 
tight. 

“I wonder — ” said one yellow chick 
to himself again. 

And he was not the only one that was 
wondering. The roly-poly kittens in the 
barn noticed Pattie the first day they 
opened their eyes. “She is a very happy 
little child, Mother,” they all said. 

“ She has reason to be,” their mother 
told them. “ She has a very happy secret 
that is coming true.” 

‘ ‘ Does she know that it is coming true ? ” 
they asked. 

“ Of course ! ” Mrs. Pussy was quite 
positive. “ She wished it on the fairies’ 
wishing gate, and in the fairies’ own good 
time, it will come true.” 


68 With the Little Folks 


“ Did she wish for a new tea-set or a 
box of paints ? She was playing with bro- 
ken ones this morning.” 

“ Indeed not ! She wished for something 
that her mother and father and herself 
could enjoy all together,” Mrs. Pussy told 
them, as she washed their faces. 

“ What do you suppose it is, Mother ? ” 
they asked. 

“I don’t suppose at all,” said Mother 
Cat. “ It is Pattie’s secret.” 

But the little kittens kept on wonder- 
ing. 

Something else was wondering, too. 
The little waddling ducklings by the pond 
were talking about Pattie. “ Her eyes grow 
brighter every day,” they said one morn- 
ing. 

“No wonder,” quacked Mrs. Duck. 
“ Her secret is coming true.” 

All the little bills opened wide. ‘ ‘ When ? ’ ’ 
they asked. 


The Secret 69 

“ In the fairies’ own good time,” said 
Mother Duck. 

“ Maybe she wished for a story book,” 
they ventured. “ She likes fairy stories.” 

“No, children,” smiled Mrs. Duck. 
“ She wished for something that her 
mother and father and she could enjoy 
together, but I do not know what the wish 
was.” 

“ Can’t you guess? ” they inquired. 

“ I shall not try,” she told them. “ It 
is Pattie’s secret. Come on now and have 
your swim.” 

It was while they were paddling around 
in the pond that Pattie came out wearing 
her little blue coat and her little blue hat 
and her very happiest smile. 

“ Good-bye, little ducks ! Good-bye, 
little chicks! Good-bye, little kittens!” 
she called. “I am going to the city to 
visit Aunt Mary and my wish is coming 
true.” And off she danced. 


70 With the Little Folks 

“Now we know! Now we know the 
wish ! ” cheeped all the little swimmers in 
the pond. 

“Do you?” asked Mrs. Duck, with a 
smile, and she shook her wise head. 

“Mother, did you hear?” peeped the 
baby chicks. “We have found out the 
secret.” 

“Have you?” inquired their mother, 
smiling. And she, too, shook her head. 

Even Mrs. Pussy was smiling when 
her children called to her, “ Mother, Pat- 
tie told us her secret! ” 

“Did she?” Mother Pussy asked it in 
a very funny way. Then she laughed. 

“ Well, if that is n’t the secret, then 
what is it ? ” asked all the little chicks 
and all the little ducks and all the little 
kittens of their mothers. 

“You will find out,” smiled the three 
mothers. 

It was three days after that when Pat- 


The Secret 


7 1 

tie came back, wearing the same little 
blue hat and the same little blue coat and 
the same happy smile. She ran right into 
the house as fast as she could go. 

“ Oh ! oh ! oh ! ” they heard her say, 
and then they heard her laugh and then 
they heard her sing. And last of all, they 
heard her say, “I am so happy! ” 

“ The wish has come true,” said every- 
body. “What can it be?” 

“I know,” Bobs told them. “They 
let me in the house this morning. But 
it is Pattie’s secret so I will let her tell 
it.” 

“ I know what it is,” said a little chick ; 
“it ’s a doll buggy ! ” 

Bobs just stretched himself. 

“ I think it is a new dress,” guessed a 
little black kitten. 

“ She wanted one,” added a baby duck- 
ling. 

“ Be still, children ! ” the three mothers 


72 With the Little Folks 

said. “You can’t guess it. You will have 
to wait and Pattie will tell you.” 

And of course she did. In fact Pattie 
brought it out to show them, with the 
help of Daddy, for it was too heavy for 
a little girl to carry. And when it was 
right there before their very eyes, Pattie 
said, “ Look, Mother Hen and Mother 
Pussy and Mother Duck 1 We have a 
baby of our own, Mother and Daddy 
and I.” 

And you may very well believe that 
all the three mothers and all their many 
children did look at the wee-est little 
baby with eyes as blue as the sky and 
cheeks as soft as a rose petal. 

“What a lovely secret!” said all the 
little ducks and all the little chicks and 
all the little kittens. 

“ The happiest secret in all the world 1 ” 
said their mothers. 


Piggywee’s Little Curly Tail 

Piggywee woke up one bright morning 
and squinted his little piggy eyes at his 
mother. “ My tail does n’t curl, does it ? ” 
he asked. 

“No,” said Mrs. Pig; “I’m afraid it 
does n’t.” 

“But I want it to,” wailed*Piggywee. 
“I like curly tails.” And Piggywee be- 
gan to cry. 

“ Hush, my child! ” Mother Pig ad- 
monished. “ Be thankful you have a tail 
at all. The bunnies do not have any, and 
they don’t cry.” 

“ I don’t care,” said Piggywee ; “ I 
want my tail to curl. Why does n’t it?” 

“ How can I tell?” Mother Pig shook 
her head. “ You had better ask Grand- 
father Owl. The children say he is very 


wise. 


74 With the Little Folks 

So Piggywee ran crying to the woods. 
“Grandfather Owl,” he called, “why 
does n’t my tail curl ? ” 

“ Who-oo-oo ? ” asked Grandfather 
Owl, opening his big eyes. 

“Me, me, Piggywee! Why doesn’t 
my tail curl?” 

“Tut! tut !” answered Mr. Owl. “How 
old are you, Piggywee ? ” And he screwed 
his head to one side and peered down at 
the little baby pig. 

“ I ’m five days old, Grandfather Owl,” 
wailed little Piggywee, “and I want my 
tail to curl.” 

“ Hm-m-m-m,” said the wise bird in 
the tree. “Five days old and crying al- 
ready.” 

Piggywee cried some more. “ How 
can I help it, when my tail will not 
curl ? ” he asked. 

The old Owl ruffled his feathers and 
closed one eye. 


Piggywee’s Little Curly Tail 75 

“Piggywee,” he began gravely, “if 
you cannot make yourself stop crying, 
how can you expect to make your tail 
curl ? ” 

“ If I don’t cry any more, will it curl ? ” 
asked little Piggywee. 

“You never can tell,” smiled Grand- 
father Owl, and he closed his other eye 
and went to sleep. 

The next day Piggywee came back 
again. “ Grandfather Owl,” he called out 
in his happiest little squeal, “ I don’t cry 
any more. I am six days old and I have 
stopped crying. Now will my tail begin 
to curl?” 

The old Owl popped out his big, star- 
ing eyes. “ Six days old,” he said, half 
to himself. “What have you been doing 
in those six days, anything besides eat- 
ing and sleeping and crying ? ” 

“ No-o-o,” admitted Piggywee. 

“Well, well!” laughed Grandfather 


76 With the Little Folks 

Owl. “ Six days old and you have done 
nothing but eat and sleep and cry. And 
still you expect your tail to curl.” And 
Mr. Owl closed up one of his big eyes. 

“ If I do something better than eat and 
sleep and cry, will my tail curl ? ” 

“You never can tell,” smiled Grand- 
father Owl, and he closed his other eye 
and went fast asleep. 

Little Piggywee walked home very 
slowly. “ I must find something to do,” 
he said to himself, “ that is better than 
eating and sleeping and crying.” 

Just then Billy Boy passed him on the 
path. “ Hello, Piggywee ! ” he called out. 

“ Hello ! ” said Piggywee. “ How old 
are you, Billy Boy ? ” 

“ Me ? I am six to-day.” And Billy Boy 
held his head up high, and then he stooped 
and patted the little pig on his pink back. 
“ How old are you, Piggywee?” 

“ I am six, too.” But Piggywee looked 



u HELLO, PIGGYWEE ! ” HE CALLED OUT 











































































































Piggywee’ s Little Curly Tail 77 

down at the ground as he said it. “ What 
do you do, Billy Boy, besides eat and 
sleep and cry?” he asked. 

How little Billy Boy did laugh ! “ Why, 
Piggywee,” he said, “are n’t you ashamed 
of yourself? You ought to know that I 
don’t cry. Only babies cry, and a boy six 
years old does n’t want to be a baby, does 
he?” 

“No-o-o,” admitted Piggywee. “I 
don’t cry either, now. I used to, but I 
stopped it. But what do you do besides 
eat and sleep?” 

“ Oh, lots of things.” Billy Boy stopped 
to think a minute. “ I take care of my 
sister while Mother is busy, and I bring 
in wood for her, and I have a nice time 
playing and watching the birds build their 
nests. I laugh and I sing and run errands 
for my mother. Oh, there are hundreds 
of nice things to do. What do you do, Pig- 
gywee?” 


78 With the Little Folks 

But Piggy wee was ashamed to tell, and 
he ran home as fast as his little piggy legs 
could carry him. 

And the next morning he went back to 
Grandfather Owl. 

“Grandfather Owl! Grandfather!” he 
called. “ I do lots of things now besides 
sleep and eat! ” 

Grandfather Owl squinted his blinking 
eyes. “Well, well!” he said, looking 
down. “ So here is little Piggywee back 
again. And what are the lots of things you 
do besides eat and sleep?” 

Piggywee laughed loud and hard, and 
his little fat sides shook. “ The very jolli- 
est things I do, Grandfather Owl. I take 
care of my brothers and sisters when my 
mother goes to the woods, and I carry 
home acorns for her, and I play around 
and laugh and squeal and grunt and have 
a good time all day. To-morrow I am go- 
ing to help the farmer shoo the chickens 


Piggywee’ s Little Curly Tail 79 

out of the garden, and he is going to let 
me follow him up and down the rows in 
the corn-field and root up the big lumps. 
It will be lots of fun.” And off ran Pig- 
gywee, laughing and shaking his little fat 
sides and so happy that he forgot all about 
his tail not curling. And Grandfather Owl 
ruffled his brown feathers and winked one 
eye and smiled. 

Days passed by .and, though Grand- 
father Owl waited in the big oak tree and 
wondered, no Piggywee came back to ask 
why his tail did not curl. “ I wonder what 
that funny little pig is doing,” said the 
wise old owl to himself one merry, merry 
morning. So with a hoot and a flap of his 
wings, off went Mr. Owl to the gnarled 
tree by the side of the farmer’s corn-field. 
There was the farmer going up and down 
the rows of tasseled corn and trotting 
after him with many a merry squeal was 
little Piggywee. 


80 With the Little Folks 

“ To-hoo ! To-hoo ! ” called Grandfather 
Owl. 

Piggywee came running. “Oh, Grand- 
father Owl,” he declared as he trotted up 
close to the tree, “ I ’ve been having the 
best fun. I have n’t even had time to come 
down and tell you about it. The farmer 
says I am the biggest helper he has.” 
And Piggywee laughed and squealed as 
happily as though the whole world were 
having a gala day. Nobody would ever 
have guessed that he had sighed and cried 
and whined and pined because his little 
tail would not curl. 

“Having a good time, are you?” 
smiled the wise old owl. 

“ Oh, such a good time ! ” Piggy- 
wee told him. “ Is n’t the corn beauti- 
ful with its silk tassels? And isn’t this 
a lovely world, so full of happy things to 
do?” 

“Yes, yes!” agreed the old owl, “it 


Piggywee’s Little Curly Tail 8i 

certainly is. But what’s that I see way at 
the end of your back?” 

Piggywee twisted his little fat side 
around and he twisted his little fat head 
around, and all of a sudden he saw what 
Grandfather Owl saw — what do you sup- 
pose ? — why, there was his little pink tail 
all curled up. 

How he did squeal! “Why,” he said, 
“ I ’ve been having such a good time that 
I forgot all about my tail. When do you 
suppose it began to curl?” 

“ You never can tell,” said the wise old 
owl. 

J ust then the farmer started down a new 
row of corn. “ Good-bye! ” called Piggy- 
wee, and off he trotted after him, his little 
squinty eyes almost shut up with smiles. 

“ Rustle ! rustle ! rustle 1 ” went the silk- 
tasseled corn. 

I And “Wiggle! wiggle! wiggle!” went 
little Piggywee’s curly tail. 


Grandfather Pig’s Spectacles 

Little Red Hen was pattering along 
the path with her little yellow feet when 
she noticed Grandfather Pig’s house. The 
curtains were all down and the door was 
shut. 

“Well, well ! ” said Little Red Hen, and 
she pattered right up to the door. 

“ Grandfather Pig, are you within ? ” 
she called. 

And a gruff voice answered, “Yes, Lit- 
tle Red Hen, I am within, and likely to 
stay there too, for I have lost my spec- 
tacles.” 

“ Lost your spectacles ! Where ? ” asked 
Little Red Hen. 

“ Somewhere in the world,” the pig 
answered. “I had them on when I took 
my twilight walk, but when I came home 
and pushed back my green cap, the 


Grandfather Pig’s Spectacles 83 

better to see the keyhole, they were 
gone.” 

“ I am so sorry,” Little Red Hen told 
him; “but you come out, Grandfather 
Pig, and lie under the apple tree, and I ’ll 
hunt for them.” 

“ Come out without my spectacles ! ” 
Grandfather Pig gave a grunt. “ I can 
never go into the light again until I find 
them.” 

“ I ’ll hurry,” said Little Red Hen, and 
patter, patter, patter, went her little yel- 
low feet, here and there and everywhere. 
And Grandfather Pig waited in his little 
house with the curtains all down and the 
door closed. 

And Little Red Hen, as smart as she is, 
(And some folks say she ’s a little “ wiz ”) 
Searched high and low and low and 
high, 

But not a spectacle could she spy. 


84 With the Little Folks 

“Never mind,” said the old pig. “If 
you will just go down and tell my grand- 
children about it, they will be glad to 
look for them.” 

So patter, patter, patter went Little 
Red Hen’s yellow feet until she came to 
the house of Mrs. Pig and her eight little 
pink piggies. 

“ Grandfather Pig has lost his spec- 
tacles!” she cried, “and he cannot go 
out in the light until he finds them.” 

“ Lost his spectacles ! ” said Mrs. Pig 
and the eight little piggies. “Where?” 

“ Somewhere in the world. He had 
them on when he took his twilight walk, 
but when he came home and pushed 
back his green cap, the better to see the 
keyhole, they were gone.” 

“We can find them,” said the eight 
little pink piggies, and trot, trot, trot, went 
their little pink legs, here and there and 
nearly everywhere. 


Grandfather Pig’s Spectacles 85 

But though they looked every place they 
knew, 

Over, around it, and under it, too, 

They found no spectacles, little or big, 
That seemed to belong to Grandfather 
Pig. 

Mrs. Pig thought a minute. “The tur- 
key wanders far by day, and climbs high 
in the trees by night,” she said. “ Maybe 
she could find them.” 

So patter, patter, patter, and trot, trot, 
trot, went Little Red Hen and Mrs. Pig 
and the eight little pink piggies, till they 
came to Mrs. Turkey and her brood of 
little turkeys. 

“ Grandfather Pig has lost his spec- 
tacles ! ” they all cried. “And he cannot 
go out in the light till he finds them.” 

“ Shocking ! ” exclaimed Mrs. Turkey. 
“ Where did he lose them ? ” 

“ Somewhere in the world,” they told 


86 With the Little Folks 

her. “ He had them on when he went 
for his twilight walk, but when he came 
home and pushed back his green cap, the 
better to see the keyhole, they were 
gone.” 

“We will do our best to find them,” 
said Mrs. Turkey as she shook her red 
wattles. “ Come on, children ! ” 

And step, step, step, went the legs of 
Mrs. Turkey and all the little turkeys, 
here and there and nearly everywhere. 

They searched the farm in field and nook 
And every place where eye could look, 
But though they stretched and craned 
their necks, 

They simply could not find those “ specs.” 

“ There goes Mr. Barnswallow, eating 
his way through a swarm of gnats ! ” 
cried Little Pink Piggie. “ He is up high 
in the world and sees a great deal. He 
might be able to find them.” 


Grandfather Pig’s Spectacles 87 

So patter, patter, patter, and trot, trot, 
trot, and step, step, step, went Little Red 
Hen, and Mrs. Pig and the eight little 
pink piggies, and Mrs. Turkey and her 
brood of little turkeys, till they came to 
Mr. Barnswallow. 

“ Oh, Mr. Barnswallow I ” they called, 
“ Grandfather Pig has lost his spectacles 
and cannot go out in the light till he 
finds them.” 

“ My ! ” Mr. Barnswallow said as he 
hopped along the ground to meet them. 
“Where did he lose them?” 

“ Somewhere in the world,” they all 
answered. “He had them on when he 
went for his twilight walk, but when he 
came home and pushed back his green 
cap, the better to see the keyhole, they 
were gone.” 

“ I know where Grandfather Pig takes 
his twilight walks,” said Mr. Barnswal- 
low. “ I ’ll just hop around on the ground 


88 With the Little Folks 

and dart about in the air and do my best 
to find them.” 

And hop, hop, hop, went Mr. Barn- 
swallow’s little legs. 

But though he used his brightest eyes, 

In every place a swallow flies, 

And searched with all his swallow might, 
Those spectacles were not in sight. 

Then Little Red Hen had a sudden 
thought. “ If any one can find them, Lit- 
tle Boy’s puppy dog can. He finds every- 
thing.” 

So patter, patter, patter, and trot, trot, 
trot, and step, step, step, and hop, hop, 
hop, went Little Red Hen, and Mrs. Pig 
and the eight little pink piggies, and Mrs. 
Turkey and her brood of little turkeys, 
and Mr. Barnswallow, till they came to 
Little Boy’s puppy dog. 

“Oh, Puppy Dog!” they cried out, 
“ Grandfather Pig has lost his spectacles 


Grandfather Pig’s Spectacles 89 

and cannot go out in the light till he finds 
them.” 

“Poor Grandfather Pig!” said Puppy- 
Dog. “Where did he lose them?” 

“ Somewhere in the world,” they told 
him. “ He had them on when he went 
for his twilight walk, but when he came 
home and pushed back his green cap, the 
better to see the keyhole, they were gone.” 

“Grandfather Pig goes a long way for 
his twilight walk,” said Little Puppy 
Dog. “ My master, Little Boy, has sharper 
eyes than I when he wants to use them, 
but as he is not here I ’ll do my best to 
find the spectacles. In fact I think I know 
where they are right now. I played with 
spectacles this very morning.” 

And head over heels went Little Pup- 
py Dog, tumbling down the path to get 
the spectacles. 

And tumbling back in just a minute, 

His puppy mouth had something in it, 


90 With the Little Folks 

And spectacles, just as you thought, 

Was what that little puppy brought. 

“ I knew Puppy Dog could find them ! ” 
cried Little Red Hen. “ He has the sharp- 
est eyes in the world.” 

“No, indeed ! ” answered Puppy Dog, 
biting his tail. “ The sharpest eyes in the 
world belong to my master, Little Boy. 
But I do the best I can. Let’s go and 
surprise Grandfather Pig.” 

So patter, patter, patter, and trot, trot, 
trot, and step, step, step, and hop, hop, 
hop, and tumble, tumble, tumble, went 
Little Red Hen, and Mrs. Pig and the 
eight little pink piggies, and Mrs. Turkey 
and her brood ^of little turkeys, and Mr. 
Barnswallow, and Little Boy’s puppy dog. 

“ Oh, Grandfather Pig ! ” they cried, 
“ Little Boy’s puppy dog has found your 
glasses, and now you can come out in the 
light.” 


Grandfather Pig’s Spectacles gi 

And Grandfather Pig opened the door 
a wee little bit and took the glasses, and 
felt of them. “Ah me ! Ah me ! ” he wailed. 
“ They are n’t mine at all. My glasses have 
horn rims.” And he shut the door. 

Puppy Dog pricked up his ears. “ I hear 
a whistle ! ” he told them. 

And just then up came Little Boy. 

“ Oh, Little Boy ! ” they all called to 
him, “Grandfather Pig has lost his spec- 
tacles, and cannot go out in the light till he 
finds them.” 

“I’m sorry," said Little Boy. “Where 
did he lose them? ” 

“ Oh, somewhere in the world. He had 
them on when he went for his twilight 
walk, but when he came home and pushed 
back his green cap, the better to see the 
keyhole, they were gone.” 

Grandfather Pig opened the door a wee 
little crack. “ Please find my spectacles, 
Little Boy,” he called. 


92 With the Little Folks 

And just that minute a big gust of wind 
came and blew Grandfather Pig’s door 
wide open. Little Boy ran quickly to shut 
it for him, for Grandfather Pig was blink- 
ing his eyes. 

“ Please find my spectacles for me, Lit- 
tle Boy,” he cried again. 

Then Little Boy gave a wee little peek, 
And laughed till the tears rolled down his 
cheek. 

“Come out!” he said, “and have no 
fears ! 

Your spectacles are behind your ears ! ” 

And Grandfather Pig felt, and sure 
enough there they were. 

“ Thank you, Little Boy,” he laughed, 
“they must have slipped there when I 
pushed back my green cap, the better to 
see the keyhole.” 

Little Puppy Dog tumbled over again. 
“Didn’t I tell you,” he barked, “that 


Grandfather Pig’s Spectacles 93 

Little Boy had the sharpest eyes in the 
world?” 

Then they all laughed, and patter, pat- 
ter, patter, and trot, trot, trot, and step, 
step, step, and hop, hop, hop, and tumble, 
tumble, tumble, off they went home again. 


The Adventures of Ducky Widdle- 
Waddle and Fishy Flip-Flop 

Ducky Widdle- Waddle swam across 
the blue lake and pushed his way through 
the reed rushes on the bank. He did not 
even look back at the little fishes as he 
waddled over the green grass. “ I ’m tired 
of the pond,” he said. “I’m tired of 
swimming around and waddling on the 
grass. I want to have some fun. Other 
folks have lots of fun, but I don’t.” 

“ Neither do I,” said a voice close by. 
Ducky Widdle-Waddle looked back and 
there was Fishy Flip-Flop looking at 
him from the water. “ I ’m tired of this 
lake, too,” asserted Fishy Flip-Flop. 
“ I ’m tired of flipping up in the air and 
flopping back again. The whole world 
has a better time than I do.” 

“Then,” said Ducky Widdle-Waddle, 


D ucky Widdle-Waddle 95 

“ let ’s go out in the whole world and 
have some fun, and let ’s not come back 
till we find the happiest place in it.” 

“All right,” answered the fish, and 
with a flip and a flop out on the grass she 
came. 

Now the first person they saw was 
Robin Chirp-Chirp. He was hopping 
along the grass in the meadow, looking 
for worms and singing, “Chirp! Chirp!” 

“ What a lot of fun he is having ! ” 
cried Fishy Flip-Flop. “ Let us go and 
have some fun with him ! ” 

So Fishy Flip-Flop stood up on his 
two front fins and Ducky Widdle-Wad- 
dle spread out his yellow web feet and 
they followed after Robin Chirp-Chirp. 
And such a commotion did they make 
that Robin Chirp-Chirp stopped. 

“My!” he cried, “what funny sound 
is that? ” And he dropped the worm that 
he held in his mouth and turned around. 


96 With the Little Folks 

When he saw Ducky Widdle-Waddle 
and Fishy Flip-Flop, how he did laugh! 
“ What a pair of sillies! ” he said to him- 
self. “ Did you ever see anything so 
funny in your life?” And he laughed 
some more. “What are you folks trying 
to do ? ” he asked. 

“Oh,” said Fishy Flip-Flop, “we are 
just trying to hop around on the grass 
and hunt for worms and sing ‘Chirp! 
Chirp! ’ the same as you do.” 

. Then Robin Chirp-Chirp laughed and 
laughed and laughed till it seemed as 
though he never would stop. 

“What are you trying to do that for? ” 
he asked. 

“Just to have some fun,” said Fishy 
Flip-Flop. 

“Well, well, well! ” said Robin Chirp- 
Chirp, and he laughed again so hard and 
long that his feathers stood up straight. 

“You seem very merry,” said Ducky 


Ducky Widdle-Waddle 97 

Widdle-Waddle. “ Is this the happiest 
place in the world ? ” 

“The happiest place in the world!” 
repeated Robin Chirp-Chirp. “ I should 
say it wasn’t. But” — and he gave his 
tail a merry little flirt — “the happiest 
place in the world is n’t far from here.” 
And away he flew. 

“ My front fins are nearly broken in 
two,” said Fishy Flip-Flop; “my throat 
is hoarse trying to sing like a robin.” 

Ducky Widdle-Waddle gave a squawk. 
“ Who wants to sing ‘ Chirp! Chirp ! ’ all 
day? Not I,” he said. “But if the hap- 
piest place in the world is not far from 
here, then let us go on and find it.” So 
with a flip and a flop and a widdle and a 
waddle, on they went. 

They had not gone very far when they 
met Puppy Yap- Yap. He was rolling and 
tumbling on the grass and barking and 
trying to catch his little tail. 


g8 With the Little Folks 

“ What a lot of fun he is having ! ” cried 
Fishy Flip-Flop. “Come on, Ducky Wid- 
dle- Waddle ! Let us go and have a good 
time with him! ” 

So they left their flip and their flop and 
their widdle and their waddle and they 
followed after Puppy Yap- Yap. But such 
a funny commotion did they make that 
Puppy Yap-Yap stopped his romping to 
listen. 

“ What a funny sound I hear ! ” he said 
to himself. And he turned around. Then 
how he did laugh, when he saw them. 
“ Such a pair of sillies 1 ” he told himself. 
“ Did you ever see anything so funny in 
your life ? ” And he laughed some more. 
“What are you folks trying to do?” he 
questioned. 

“Oh,” said Ducky Widdle-Waddle, 
“ we are just trying to roll and tumble on 
the ground and catch our tails and say, 

‘ Yap ! Yap ! ’ the same as you do.” 


Ducky Widdle-Waddle 99 

“ What are you doing that for ? ” asked 
the puppy. 

“Just to have some fun,” said Fishy 
Flip-Flop. 

“Well, well, well!” said Puppy Yap- 
Yap, and he laughed and laughed till his 
tail stood straight up in the air. 

“You seem very gay,” said Ducky 
Widdle-Waddle. “Is this the happiest 
place in the world ? ” 

“I should say not,” laughed Puppy 
Yap- Yap, “ but the happiest place in 
the world is not far from here.” And he 
gave his long ears a shake and off he 
trotted. 

“ I don’t think it is any fun to tumble 
around after your own tail,” said Fishy 
Flip-Flop. 

“Nor to sing ‘Yap ! Yap ! ’ all daylong,” 
added Ducky Widdle-Waddle. “ But if the 
happiest place in the world is not far from 
here, let us go and find it.” 


ioo With the Little Folks 

So with a flip and a flop and a widdle 
and a waddle, off they went. 

Now they had not gone very far when 
they saw Piggy Squealer. He was root- 
ing around in the field and wiggling his 
little curly tail and squealing with all his 
piggy might. 

“ Oh, see Piggy Squealer ! ” cried Fishy 
Flip-Flop. “ He is having the most fun in 
the world. Let us go and have some fun 
with him ! ” 

So they left their flip and their flop and 
their widdle and their waddle and they 
followed after Piggy Squealer. And they 
tossed the dirt so high and made such 
a commotion that the pig stopped root- 
ing. 

“What funny noise is this that I 
hear ? ” asked Piggy Squealer. And he 
turned around. And when he saw what he 
saw, he laughed and laughed. “What a 
pair of sillies ! ” he exclaimed. “ Did you 


Ducky Widdle-Waddle ioi 

ever see anything so funny in your life? ” 
And then he asked them, “ What are you 
folks trying to do?” 

“Oh,” said Fishy Flip-Flop, “we are 
just trying to root around in the ground 
and wiggle our tails and squeal the same 
as you do.” 

“ What are you doing that for ? ” asked 
Piggy Squealer. 

“Just to have some fun,” answered 
Ducky Widdle-Waddle. 

“ Well, well, well ! ’’said Piggy Squealer, 
and he laughed so hard that his little tail 
curled up tight. 

“You seem very merry,” Ducky Wid- 
dle-Waddle said. “Is this the happiest 
place in the world ? ” 

“ I should say not,” Piggy Squealer 
answered. “ But the happiest place in the 
world is not far from here.” And giv- 
ing his tail another little wiggle, off he 
trotted. 


102 With the Little Folks 

“ It is n’t any fun to wiggle your tail 
all day, and root in the ground,” said 
Fishy Flip-Flop. 

“And who wants to squeal till his 
throat is hoarse ? ” added Ducky Wid- 
dle-Waddle. “ But if the happiest place 
in the world is not far away, let us go 
and find it.” 

So with a flip and a flop and a widdle 
and a waddle, off they went again. 

Now as they went slowly on their 
way, they saw Mr. Buzzy-Bee. He was 
dangling his legs in a hollyhock, sucking 
out the honey and buzzing with all his 
busy might. 

“ See what a good time Mr. Buzzy- 
Bee is having!” cried Fishy Flip-Flop. 
“ Let us go and have some fun with 
him ! ” 

So once again they left their flip and 
their flop and their widdle and their wad- 
dle and they followed after Mr. Buzzy- 


Ducky Widdle-Waddle 103 

Bee. But alas and alack ! when they tried 
to dangle themselves in the flowers, over 
tumbled the hollyhock stalk, Ducky Wid- 
dle-Waddle, Fishy Flip-Flop, Mr. Buz- 
zy-Bee and all. 

“What are you folks trying to do?” 
asked Buzzy-Bee as he rolled out of the 
dust. 

“Oh, we are just trying to dangle our- 
selves in the hollyhocks, and suck out 
the honey, and sing ‘ Buzz ! Buzz ! ’ the 
same as you do,” said Ducky Widdle- 
Waddle. 

“ What are you doing that for ? ” asked 
the Bee. 

“Just to have some fun,” Fishy Flip- 
Flop told him. 

“ Did you ever hear of anything so 
funny in your life?” laughed the bee to 
himself, and he kept on laughing till his 
buzzer would not go any more. 

“You seem very merry,” Fishy Flip- 


104 With the Little Folks 

Flop said to him. “Is this the happiest 
place in the world ? ” 

“ No, indeed ! ” said Buzzy-Bee very 
emphatically. “ But the happiest place in 
the world is not far from here.” And dan- 
gling his legs some more, off he flew. 

“ I am tired of dangling myself in 
flowers and singing other people’s songs,” 
said Fishy Flip-Flop. 

“And I am tired of saying ‘Buzz! 
Buzz ! ’ ” replied Ducky Widdle-Waddle. 
“ It makes me dizzy.” 

Just then there came to them the sound 
of music. “ Some one is singing,” cried 
Fishy Flip-Flop. “And it is Little Girl 
Happy.” 

And sure enough it was. They could 
see her sitting on the doorstep of her 
own little home. And this is what she 
was singing: 

“ Time to work and time to rest, 
Each one in his place is best. 



THEY COULD SEE HER SITTING ON THE DOORSTEP 
OF HER OWN LITTLE HOME 





Ducky Widdle-Waddle 105 

Though afar we like to roam, 

The happiest place is always home, 
Yours for you and mine for me, 

The happiest place is home.” 

Ducky Widdle-Waddle looked at Fishy 
Flip-Flop, and Fishy Flip-Flop looked 
at Ducky Widdle-Waddle and they 
laughed and laughed and laughed. 

“Aren’t we a pair of sillies!” said 
Fishy Flip-Flop. 

“ I never heard of anything so funny 
in my life,” answered Ducky Widdle- 
Waddle. 

And they laughed some more, and 
then, with a flip and a flop and a widdle 
and a waddle, off they went. And the 
last time I heard anything about them 
they were both swimming merrily around 
in their own blue lake, singing to them- 
selves. If you had been close to the 
water’s edge, and understood the lan- 


106 With the Little Folks 

guage of a duck and a fish, you would 
have heard these words : 

“ Time to work and time to rest, 

Each one in his place is best. 
Though afar we like to roam, 

The happiest place is always home, 
Yours for you and mine for me, 
The happiest place is home.” 


The Two Little Maple Leaves 

Once there were two little leaves that 
grew side by side in the top of a tall 
maple tree. They were green as green 
could be. Their stems were green and 
the branch on which they lived was green, 
as green as the violet bed at the maple 
tree’s roots. Every morning the sun wak- 
ened the two little leaves and every night 
the cool dark put them to sleep, and day 
after day they swung on the topmost 
branch of the tree. 

“We shall always play together here,” 
they said to each other. 

“ Always ? ” asked a little bluebird. 

“ Always,” said the little leaves. 

“ Not quite always,” said the old maple 
tree. “When fall comes, you will put on 
your winter dresses. Maple leaves never 
wear green dresses in the fall. The North 


108 With the Little Folks 

Wind comes with his chariot and you 
will sail away with him for a merry ride. 
Then you will rest in a new Sleepyland 
and Father Winter will tuck you in bed 
beneath a white coverlet of snow.” 

But the little leaves only laughed. “We 
like our green dresses best,” they said, 
“and we do not care to ride with the 
North Wind.” And they swung faster than 
ever in the sunlight. 

Days passed. The flowers closed their 
eyes and seed pods nodded from the 
blossom stems. Fall days crept in and 
one by one the maple leaves all took off 
their green summer dresses and put on 
russet and crimson and golden ones. The 
maple tree was aflame with color. 

“Oh, oh, oh ! ” cried the children who 
passed by, “ the maple tree looks like a 
flower garden in the springtime. But see 
those two little leaves in the top! They 
have forgotten to take off their summer 


Two Little Maple Leaves 109 

dresses. Little Leaves, ” they called, 
“ are n’t you going to the North Wind’s 
party?” But the little leaves only smiled 
and went on dancing. 

Autumn swept over the land and the 
days grew chill. The little leaves drew 
their summer clothes more closely about 
them and shivered a little. 

The big brown tree shook her branches 
and called to them. 

“ All the world knows,” she said, “ how 
a maple leaf should dress in autumn. Put 
on your winter clothes. The air is grow- 
ing colder.” 

“ It will be warmer by and by,” smiled 
the little leaves. 

And then one day came the big, blowy, 
North Wind. 

His breath stung the cheeks of the 
two little leaves and tingled their toes till 
they ached and sent a sharp chill piercing 
through them. 


iio With the Little Folks 

“All ready ! ” he called. “ Button your 
crimson coats tighter, my leaves, and fas- 
ten your brown dresses close. Tie your 
golden scarfs around your heads and put 
on your yellow mittens ! We are off for 
a merry ride ! ” 

One by one he lifted them into his 
chariot, the little and the big, the red, the 
brown, the gold, and the russet leaves. 
Oh, there was a load of them, and how 
they laughed and shouted and sang as 
they climbed in. For the merriest day in 
the long, long year for them was the 
North Wind’s gala day. 

The two little leaves were left in the 
topmost branch all alone. 

“Take usl Take us!” they cried, as 
the North Wind climbed in. 

“ In faded summer clothes ? ” asked the 
North Wind. “Nay, none ride with me 
but those who are robed for winter.” And 
with a whistle and a shout he was off. 


Two Little Maple Leaves hi 

And the two little leaves hung in the 
tree-top, cold and tired and sad. 

“ Poor little children ! ” said the maple 
tree, as she looked up at them. 

“ Poor little children ! ” said the North 
Wind to himself, as he rode along, for 
he, too, was sorry. Then he stopped a 
little breeze that was blowing past. “ Hurry 
to the maple tree,” he said. “Two little 
leaves hang in the topmost branch in 
their faded summer dresses. They are 
cold and tired. Take them down to the 
violet bed and tuck them in.” 

And so it happened that the little leaves 
let go their hold on the top branch and 
found .themselves slowly sinking, down, 
down — 

“ Good-night ! ” called the bare brown 
tree. 

1 ‘ Good-night ! ” said the two little leaves. 
Then they shut their eyes, for Mother 
Nature was hushing them to sleep. 


Little Water-Drop’s Journey 

One golden morning in summer, a little 
drop of water out in the ocean climbed up 
on top of a foamy wave and began to cry. 

“Well, well, well!” said the big Sun. 
“ What can a little drop of water be crying 
about?” 

“ Lots of things,” said the little drop. 
“I’m tired of splashing about. I want to 
have some fun.” 

“ Is n’t it fun scattering shells all over 
the beach, and playing with the little chil- 
dren and tickling their toes?” 

“That’s just it,” sighed the little drop 
of water. “ That is just what I like to do, 
but a big wave always comes and takes 
me away, and then the tide will not let me 
go back for a whole day.” And the little 
drop of water began to cry again. 

“I see! I see!” smiled the big Sun. 


Little Water-Drop’s Journey i i 3 

Then he slipped behind a little cloud to 
think. When he came out again, his smile 
was very warm. 

“ How would you like to go for a ride 
with your old Grandfather Sun?” he 
asked. 

“ And see the world?” asked the little 
drop. 

“And see the world,” he assented. “But 
— you must be very good and do as you 
are told, for that is the only way a rain- 
drop can see the world.” 

“ I ’ll do it! ” she promised. 

“All right.” Grandfather Sun smiled 
warmer and warmer. “ Now keep very 
still for a moment. I shall have to change 
you into a vapor fairy and put wings on 
you.” 

Hardly were the words out of his mouth 
than the little drop felt herself growing 
lighter. She seemed to spread out and a 
strange feeling stole over her. 


1 14 With the Little Folks 

“Where am I?” she cried. “I can’t 
see myself! ” 

“ Of course not,” smiled Grandfather 
Sun. “ Nobody can see a vapor fairy. 
Spread your wings now and fly up on a 
sunbeam and come along ! ” 

And that was the way Little Water- 
Drop started out to see the world. 

“ I hope I shall see little children,” she 
said, after they had sailed a long way up in 
the sky. “I like to play with little children.” 

“You will have lots of happy times 
with lots of little children in lots of differ- 
ent places before you get home again,” 
said Grandfather Sun. “For seeing the 
world is a long journey. And now good- 
bye! Uncle West Wind is going to take 
you to a party with a lot of other vapor 
fairies.” 

“A party!” Water-Drop clapped her 
hands. But before she had time' to say 
any more, up came Uncle West Wind. 


Little Water-Drop’s Journey 115 

“ Well, well, well! ” he said as he blew 
a little kiss to her. “ Another little drop 
of water going out to see the world ! My 
party is growing very big.” 

“Where is the party?” Water-Drop 
asked. 

Uncle West Wind took hold of her 
hand. “It is up in that silver cloud that 
looks very close to the moon, but is n’t,” 
he laughed, as he whisked her away. 

“ What do we do at a cloud party ? ” 
asked the little drop. 

“Oh, you dance and sing and fly around 
and guess guesses and wish wishes until 
the big surprise comes.” 

“ Oh ! ” said Little Water-Drop, “ I love 
big surprises ! ” 

“So do the other vapor fairies,” re- 
turned her uncle. “That is why they 
guess guesses about it.” 

“What is the big surprise?” Water- 
Drop asked before she thought. Then she 


n6 With the Little Folks 

clapped her hand over her mouth. “Don’t 
tell me ! ” she cried. 

How Uncle West Wind did laugh. 
“ How can I tell you when I do not know 
myself?” he said. “Your four uncles, 
North Wind and South Wind and East 
Wind and myself, decide the matter in 
council. Then one of us goes to the party 
and tells the big surprise. But, of course, 
you may guess guesses and wish wishes 
about it.” 

And just that minute he lifted Water- 
Drop right up on the edge of the silver 
cloud. Hundreds of little vapor fairies 
came flying out to meet her. You can 
imagine how happy she was and what 
a merry time she had. They danced dances 
she had never heard of before and played 
games that only vapor fairies could think 
of. And they spoke often in whispers of 
the big surprise. “ What can it be ? What 
can it be ? ” they asked over and over. By 


Little Water-Drop’s Journey i i 7 

and by, it grew colder and they danced 
closer together. 

“ I ’m shivering," said Little Water- 
Drop. “ Let ’s sit down and guess guesses 
and wish wishes.” 

And that was just what everybody 
wanted to do. And when all the many 
little vapor fairies had guessed and wished 
to their little hearts’ content, Water-Drop 
said: “Isn’t it lovely to see the world! 
I wish I might fly over to that purple 
mountain-top and play with the little 
children ! ” 

Then they all laughed. “ Why, there 
are no little children on that high moun- 
tain,” they told her. 

“ Then I should run down the side till 
I found them,” she announced. 

“ Yoo-oo-oo-oo! ” Everybody stopped 
to listen. They had all heard that sound 
before. “Why, it must be Uncle North 
Wind ! ” they all cried. 


ii8 With the Little Folks 

“ Yoo-oo-oo! ” And there he was. And 
every little vapor fairy felt as though she 
were shrinking. “ Yoo-oo-oo ! ” he whis- 
tled once more. 

“Did you bring the big surprise?” 
they all cried, as they shivered again. 

“ Whee-ee-ee!” hummed Uncle North 
Wind, puffing hard. “ Of course I brought 
the big surprise. You are all going to 
visit the purple mountain.” 

“Oh! Oh! Oh!” said Water-Drop. 
“ My wish is coming true.” 

“Yoo-oo-oo! ” whistled Uncle North 
Wind. “ Hurry up ! Cuddle up close ! It 
will be a cold ride, but you will soon be 
there.” And with a bluster and a puff and 
a whistle and a roar, he carried the whole 
cloud of fairies away. 

The purple mountain with her face 
covered with haze saw them coming. She 
was so happy that she grew more pur- 
ple still and seemed mistier than ever. 


Little Water-Drop’s Journev i 19 

“ I have waited a long time for you, lit- 
tle vapor fairies,” she called. “ Your little 
nightie-caps were ready for you weeks 
ago. Six points I have embroidered on 
every one, and no two caps alike. Here 
it is November and not a single one of 
you asleep yet.” 

“ Do we have to go to sleep? ” asked 
Little Water-Drop. 

“Why, of course.” Purple mountain 
was shaking out hundreds of little white 
nightie-gowns. “No one travels all the 
time. First a little journey and then a lit- 
tle rest, and then a little journey. That is 
the way to see the world.” 

“ Of course,” laughed all the little vapor 
fairies. And Water-Drop knew right down 
in her little water-drop heart that she 
was as sleepy as she could be. It was all 
she could do to count the six points on 
the nightie-caps the purple mountain was 
handing out to them. Oh, they were such 


120 With the Little Folks 

cute little caps! Ever so much prettier 
than the ones the waves wore. And when 
Water-Drop put hers on she was so sur- 
prised. 

“Why, I can see myself again!” she 
cried. “ I am all white now.” 

So were all the other vapor fairies. 
And when they all lay cuddled down 
against the purple mountain, they looked 
like a fairy garden of stars. 

Water-Drop was so fast asleep that 
she did not even hear the little children 
talking down in the valley below. 

They were looking up at the flower 
garden of stars. 

“Oh, see the purple mountain!” they 
shouted. “It is all covered with snow ! ” 

She was so fast asleep that she did not 
even feel Jack Frost pinching her cheeks 
and tickling her toes and nipping her 
nose. She did not even know that King 
Winter was ruling the land. She was still 


Little Water-Drop’s Journey i 2 i 

fast asleep when Spring came and chased 
King Winter away. But all of a sudden, 
one merry morning, she opened her eyes. 
And who do you suppose it was that 
wakened her? Why, Grandfather Sun, 
of course. “ Well, well, well ! ” he was 
saying. “ Here we are again. And how 
do you like the world, now that you have 
seen something of it? ” 

Water-Drop sat up in bed. “ I think it 
is a wonderful place,” she said. She was 
growing warmer and warmer — so warm 
that she loosened her nightie-cap and 
pushed it back a little way. Then she 
laughed. 

“I know what you are going to do, 
Grandfather Sun,” she began, shaking 
her finger at him. “You are going to 
change me into a vapor fairy again.” 

“You have guessed wrong,” Grand- 
father Sun laughed. “ I can do other 
things besides turning water-drops into 


122 With the Little Folks 

vapor fairies. Keep very still for a minute, 
now, and see what happens.” 

Water-Drop almost held her breath. 
She felt as warm as little children do 
when they say they are nearly melting, 
and then, all of a sudden, her little cap 
and nightie were gone, and there she 
was, her own old self — a water-drop 
again. 

“ Nobody wears a nightie-gown and 
a nightie-cap when he travels around to 
see the world,” laughed the old Sun. 

“I look just the same as I used to,” 
Water-Drop told him, “but I feel differ- 
ent. I seem to be lighter than I was when 
I splashed on top of the waves.” 

“Ah, yes.” The old Sun was nodding 
his head. “That is because you are not 
carrying the little bag of salt you played 
with in the ocean. You dropped it when 
you changed into a vapor fairy, but you 
will find it again. And now I suppose 


Little Water-Drop’s Journey 123 

you will want to start on your journey, 
child, so good-bye ! I just stopped a min- 
ute to wake you all up and say ‘ Happy 
voyage 1 ’ ” 

When Water-Drop looked around, sure 
enough, all the nightie-gowns and caps 
were gone, and there were lots of little 
water-drops like herself scampering about. 
“ Come on ! Come on ! ” they all cried, 
and they joined hands and ran down the 
mountain-side. “ Good-bye!” they called, 
“ and thank you for a happy visit, Purple 
Mountain I ” 

They had a merry race and the first 
thing Water-Drop knew, so many others 
had joined them that they made a tiny 
little stream of water curving its way 
over the pebbles and dirt. “ See how big 
we are growing ! ” they all cried, as other 
little streams hurried from different direc- 
tions to catch up with them. “ Let ’s all 
go on together and see the world 1 ” They 


124 With the Little Folks 

called out their invitation to all the water- 
drops they could see. And every little 
drop that could possibly run there joined 
in with the merry little party going on to 
see the world. And the next thing Water- 
Drop knew they had splashed right into 
a big brook. 

“ Glad to see you ! ” he said, welcom- 
ing them with a gurgle. “ Come right on 
with me ! I ’ll show you lots of interest- 
ing things.” And he did, too. I can’t 
begin to tell you how many — trees 
and bushes and big rocks and flowers 
and water-cresses and nesting birds and 
meadows, and children — oh, so many 
children ! They found them in the woods, 
they met them in the meadow, and they 
played with them down in the cowslip 
pasture. There were brown-eyed children 
and blue-eyed children, children with 
yellow curls and brown ones. “ I did not 
know there were so many children in the 


Little Water-Drop’s J ourney 125 

world ! ” said Water-Drop as she danced 
on and on. 

Sometimes she splashed up on the 
back of a green bull-frog and looked up 
at the trees and the birds. Sometimes she 
rested in the little pools and talked to the 
fishes. Sometimes she went to sleep on a 
water-cress leaf. But always the brook 
was in a hurry. “ Come on ! ” he kept 
calling. “ If you want to see the world, 
come on ! ” 

“ Good - bye, lovely things ! ” called 
Water-Drop, and she said it over and 
over all day long. “ Good-bye, little chil- 
dren ! ” 

“There is a river farther down,” said 
the brook. “ You will like the river. It is 
so big and splashy and it has ripples all 
over it. When the steamers go by, the 
ripples are big and white almost like the 
waves of the ocean.” 

“ Oh ! ” said Little Water-Drop, and she 


126 With the Little Folks 

wished right that minute that she could 
see a little white ocean-wave, but then she 
remembered that there were more lovely 
things to see in the world, so she danced 
on. 

And when at last they came to the big 
river, both she and the brook were so 
happy that they splashed right in. “ Glad 
to see you ! Glad to see you ! ” boomed 
the big river. And then he splashed all 
over a little boat that was filled with 
children. 

“ My ! How happy the river must be ! ” 
laughed all the little folks. “ He has 
splashed all over us.” And they shook all 
the little water-drops off of their dresses 
and laughed some more. 

“Wait till you get down to the mill,” 
said the man who was rowing the boat. 
“ Then you will see some big splashing.” 

“ I shall just go down to the mill with 
them,” Little Water-Drop decided. And 


Little Water-Drop’s Journey 127 

down she went. And what do you suppose 
she did when she got there? “Br-rr-rr- 
splash ! ” said the big mill-wheel. And 
Little Water-Drop jumped right on and 
had a ride. She whirled round and round 
and round. “ There, now ! ” she said, when 
at last she jumped off, “ I have helped to 
grind a little bit of flour anyway.” 

“ Indeed you have, and I am much 
obliged to you,” said the rumbly voice of 
the old mill. 

“ Come on ! Come on ! ” called the river. 
He was in as big a hurry as the brook. 
“ Come on, and see the world ! Or maybe 
you had rather stay here.” 

“ Oh, no ! ” said Water-Drop. “ I could 
n’t stay here. I am only seeing the world 
and I must get home sometime.” It was 
the first time that Water-Drop had said 
a word about home. 

“ Getting homesick ? ” asked the river. 
“ I am beginning to feel that way myself.” 


128 With the Little Folks 

“ Where is your home ? ” asked Water- 
Drop. 

“In the ocean.” 

“ Is n’t that nice ! ” Water-Drop danced 
faster. “ We ’ll just go right on home to- 
gether,” she said with a happy laugh. 

“Toot - toot - toot I Good - afternoon ! ” 
whistled a big river steamboat. “If you 
like riding on wheels, Little Water-Drop, 
why not come and have a spin around on 
one of mine ? ” 

“ Whir-rr-rr,” said the nearest wheel, 
“jump on!” 

Little Water-Drop ran as fast as she 
could, gave a big jump, and there she was, 
spinning round and round and round. And 
I can assure you it was as much fun for 
her as spinning a top is for boys. She rode 
almost to the mouth of the river before she 
jumped off. 

“ I hear it! ” she said, in a very joyful 
voice. 


Little Water-Drop’s Journey 129 

“What?” asked the river, who was 
busy splashing. 

“ The boom and the roar and the pound- 
ing of the ocean.” 

“Of course.” And the river splashed 
higher. “We are almost home.” 

“Well, well, well 1 ” said a familiar voice. 
“ So here we are again. And how is the 
world, Little Water-Drop ? ” 

Little Water-Drop looked right up into 
the old Sun’s face. “ I think it is a lovely 
place, Grandfather,” she smiled, “but 
still — ” And then she began to laugh. 

“ I see ! I see ! ” The old Sun began to 
smile. “You are just like all the people in 
the world. There is n’t any place you love 
so much as home. Am I right?” 

“Indeed you are, Grandfather Sun,” 
said Water-Drop. “ I can hardly wait to 
see the big whales spout water, and the 
porpoises jump up in the air. I want to 
watch the sea-gulls_darting about and the 


130 With the Little Folks 

little fishes wiggling their tails. And I 
want to jump up on a little white wave 
and splash around.” 

“Just where I found you,” Grandfather 
Sun added. 

“Yes, but you will never find me cry- 
ing again,” Little Water-Drop told him. 
“ This time, when I get home — ” 

“You are home already ! ” shouted the 
Sun. “ Can't you see that white wave com- 
ing out to meet you ? ” 

But before he could say another word, 
what do you think? Water-Drop had 
splashed right up onto that white, foamy 
wave and was sailing away. “I’m so 
happy ! ” the old Sun heard her say. And 
I am very sure she has been happy ever 
since. And there is another thing I am 
very sure of — she found her little bag of 
salt. 











































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(Cbe flitoerjribe pr off 

CAMBRIDGE . MASSACHUSETTS 
U . S . A 








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